Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Lebanese President Michel Aoun during talks in Beirut that Cairo is working to swiftly meet the needs of the Lebanese people, providing airlift and sealift for the delivery of aid and to help in the reconstruction of the country.
Shoukry and Aoun met on Tuesday at the Baabda presidential palace in Beirut, one day after the Lebanese cabinet resigned over public fury following last week s Beirut explosion.
The massive warehouse explosion, the biggest in the city s history, killed at least 163 people, injured 6,000 and left as many as 300,000 homeless.
"We have been instructed to work closely through Egyptian government bodies to fulfill the needs and priorities of Lebanon at the earliest possible opportunity," Shoukry told reporters after the talks, according to Ahram Arabic news website.
Egypt has launched an airlift to offer humanitarian aid and relief supplies and a sealift to help in the reconstruction of blast-hit Lebanon, Shoukry was quoted as saying.
The sealift the minister referred to includes a "giant vessel carrying a shipment of glass, aluminum and marble set to arrive in Beirut within days to help restore blast-damaged buildings," Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Yasser Alawi told Ahram Online.
The shipment, prepared by Federation of Egyptian Industries, will help in rebuilding the 200,000 apartments that were shattered in the blast, the ambassador said.
During his visit, Shoukry toured an Egyptian field hospital treating victims of the mega blast, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The six-clinic facility opened its doors to the victims one hour after the explosion took place.
The Lebanese people took to the streets and stormed government ministries earlier this week in protest of what they described as the ineptness and corruption of the political elite.
The Lebanese president accepted the resignation of the cabinet, asking it to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed.
Lebanese officials said the devastating blast last week was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse at Beirut port for six years after being confiscated from a ship.
Countries around the world have rallied to offer support to Lebanon, providing aid packages, rescue and medical teams, and humanitarian aid.
Egypt has taken several steps to provide assistance to Lebanon, including launching an airlift of medical supplies and other aid to support the country.
Cairo has so far sent three planes carrying aid supplies to Beirut.
