The collapse, which comes exactly two years after a mega-explosion at the city’s port that killed 215 people, was caused by rotting grain inside warehouses due to excessive heat.

The city police said that no casualty has been reported so far. Earlier this month, a fire broke out at the 48-metre-high warehouses, sending orange smoke billowing from the area. Firefighters were unable to put out the fire, which raged for weeks.

Last week, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health and Environment recommended that residents in areas close to the port keep their homes well ventilated. The structure of the warehouses had already collapsed after the 2020 blastPart of it was destroyed by fire.

A severe heat wave in Beirut in July caused grain stored in the port’s warehouses to ferment, causing a fire and subsequent collapse.

The explosion takes place exactly two years later 215 people were killed in a massive explosion at the port of Beirut More than 6,000 wounded were left behind.

The incident occurred after hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in one of the city’s warehouses leaked.

Last year, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch accused the Lebanese authorities of criminal negligence in the episode. In the 126-page report, the NGO documented a series of violations by politicians and the country’s security establishment in handling the storage of dangerous goods at the port.

“Lebanese officials were aware of the danger posed by ammonium nitrate. By not taking any measures to protect the population, they have tacitly accepted this risk,” said Aya Majzoub, one of the authors of the report.