President Aoun urges other states to speed up assistance to Lebanon as France’s Macron to visit Beirut on Thursday

President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday that a transparent investigation into a powerful blast that rocked Beirut would reveal the circumstances of what happened as soon as possible. Aoun also appealed to other nations to speed up assistance to Lebanon, which was already grappling with an economic meltdown.

The country’s main grain silo at Beirut port was destroyed in a blast on Tuesday, leaving the nation with less than a month’s reserves of the grain, but still with enough flour to avoid a crisis, Reuters quoted the economy minister as saying.

French President Emmanuel Macron will fly to Beirut on Thursday and will meet the country’s political figures, his office said. Macron has already ordered French emergency assistance be sent to Lebanon, a country with deep historical ties to France.