The estimated number of people wounded in the monster explosion at Beirut’s port has shot up to 6,000, the health ministry said Saturday in a statement.
The death toll rose to 158 and the number of missing dropped to 21 from 60 in the latest ministry figures.
 

People clear debris from their apartments, in the neighbourhood of Mar Mikaehl on August 6, 2020, two days after a massive blast in the nearby Beirut port shook the Lebanese capital.  (Photo by Patrick BAZ / AFP)

The authorities had previously put the number of people wounded in Tuesday’s blast at 5,000, stressing that at least 120 of them were considered to be in critical condition.

Members of the Lebanese civil defence use a dog to search for victims and survivors under the rubble of a building in the Gemayzeh neighbourhood on August 6, 2020, two days after a massive explosion in the Beirut port shook the capital.  (Photo by – / AFP)

Thousands protest
Several thousand protesters gathered in central Beirut on Saturday to vent their anger at a political elite they blame for a deadly explosion that turned the city into a disaster zone.
 

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Lebanese and French rescuers gather near a damaged funeral services in the Gemayzeh neighbourhood before starting search operations for victims or survivors under the rubble of damaged buildings on August 6, 2020, two days after a massive explosion in the Beirut port shook the capital.  (Photo by – / AFP)

 
The large crowd of demonstrators, some of them brandishing nooses, called for revenge as a large deployment of security forces tried to contain some groups seeking to advance towards parliament, AFP correspondents reported.
 

Lebanese protesters pull on barbed-wire, erected by security forces, during clashes in downtown Beirut on August 8, 2020, following a demonstration against a political leadership they blame for a monster explosion that killed more than 150 people and disfigured the capital Beirut. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
A Lebanese policeman hits a demonstrator during clashes in downtown Beirut on August 8, 2020, following a demonstration against a political leadership they blame for a monster explosion that killed more than 150 people and disfigured the capital Beirut. (Photo by STR / AFP)
Lebanese protesters hurl rocks towards security forces during clashes in downtown Beirut on August 8, 2020, following a demonstration against a political leadership they blame for a monster explosion that killed more than 150 people and disfigured the capital Beirut. (Photo by STR / AFP)
A Lebanese protester hurls a rock towards security forces during clashes in downtown Beirut on August 8, 2020, following a demonstration against a political leadership they blame for a monster explosion that killed more than 150 people and disfigured the capital Beirut. (Photo by STR / AFP)

 
-AFP