Lebanese join hands to help those affected by fires
Citizens organise donation drives on social media to help distribute aid to victims
Beirut: Hundreds of Lebanese citizens came together on Wednesday to help with relief efforts after dozens of freak wildfires ravaged large swathes of mountain areas, forcing residents to flee.
Many citizens took to Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp to organise their own support initiatives and donation drives.
“The response was unbelievably encouraging. Contributions and donations flooded in as fast as the wildfires spread. It was so overwhelming and humane. Lebanese citizens once again proved to be responsible, sympathetic and kindhearted. We still have people with white hearts unlike our politicians who are irresponsible and black at heart,” Nada, a resident of Khalde area and social activist, told Gulf News.
“Once I heard that Al Jisr Beach opened its doors to people who fled the fires, I went down there to help collect and distribute aid,” she said.
Renowned social activist, Neemat Badreddine, said more than 300 people flocked to Al Jisr Beach to help their fellow Lebanese citizens.
It was like a beehive. Activists, scout members, pharmacists, doctors, even cooks came in to help. Residents from all walks of life flocked to what seemed like the ‘command room’. Citizens came in and provided us with water, food supplies, clothes, blankets, mattresses and other reliefs. They also donated special asthma medicines, inhalers, allergy pills and sprays.
“It was like a beehive. Activists, scout members, pharmacists, doctors, even cooks came in to help. Residents from all walks of life flocked to what seemed like the ‘command room’. Citizens came in and provided us with water, food supplies, clothes, blankets, mattresses and other reliefs. They also donated special asthma medicines, inhalers, allergy pills and sprays,” Badreddine told Gulf News.
She said volunteers even used their own cars to distribute the relief materials.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, a funeral was held for Saleem Abu Muhjahed, a 33-year-old father of two, who died while help trying to extinguish Mount Lebanon’s wildfires.
He reportedly suffocated after helping to put out a fire that broke out in his hometown in Btater, Aley. Dozens of people, including Civil Defense firefighters, sustained injuries.
The Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that it treated 72 people in a field hospital in Damour, most for shortness of breath, asphyxiation, fainting and minor burns.
The fires were believed to have been caused by a combination of hot and windy weather.
Rainfall on Tuesday helped douse most of the fires, a Lebanese Civil Defence spokesperson told Gulf News.
-With inputs from Layelle Saad/Middle East Editor