Egypt’s President Sisi pledges support to Lebanon after massive explosion

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised to offer full support to Lebanon during a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun on Wednesday, a day after a massive warehouse explosion hit Beirut, the Egyptian presidency said.

During the phone call, “ Sisi affirmed the solidarity of the government and people of Egypt with its brothers in Lebanon, and the willingness to harness all capabilities to assist and support Lebanon in its ordeal,” presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a fire at Beirut’s port turned shortly after into a massive explosion with a huge mushroom cloud that Lebanese officials said came from a stockpile of ammonium nitrate in a warehouse.

The blast resulted in the death of at least 100 people, injuring more than 4,000, according to Lebanon’s Red Cross.

Two Egyptians have been killed in the explosion and another has been missing, according to the Egyptian embassy in Lebanon.

Sisi offered his condolences and expressed his sincere sympathy to the government and people of Lebanon and wished the injured a speedy recovery, the spokesman added.

Separately, the Egyptian foreign ministry offered its condolences to Lebanon late on Tuesday and said that the Egyptian field hospital in Beirut was ready to provide all possible assistance to the victims.

The hospital has already received a number of cases, the ministry said.

Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world’s top religious institution, announced that it will sent a medical and aid convoy to help the Lebanese people overcome the crisis.

Egypt will also send two planes carrying medical supplies to Beirut following directives by Sisi to offer urgent assistance to the country, Minister of State for Information Osama Heikal said in a statement.

Late on Tuesday, Heikal expressed solidarity with the Lebanese people in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Manal Abdel Samad late on Tuesday, the ministry said in a statement.

Heikal hoped the painful incident would unite the Lebanese people in the face of the country’s economic and political crises.