French President Emmanuel Macron (C) visits the site of the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon, on August 6, 2020.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an international investigation into the deadly explosion in Beirut.
The blast on Tuesday killed more than 130 people, injured thousands of others and ravaged entire neighborhoods, leaving hundreds of thousands without homes.
At the end of his visit to the Lebanese capital on Thursday -- the first by a world leader since the accident -- Macron said a "transparent probe is needed to prevent things from remaining hidden and doubt from creeping in."
He said France will organize a meeting to be held in the next few days with European, American, Middle Eastern and other donors to raise money for food, medicine, housing and other urgent aid.
Many Lebanese blame the country's political elite for the disaster, pointing to long-running corruption and mismanagement.
Macron warned Lebanon's political leadership that he would not give "blank checks to a system that no longer has the trust of its people," and called on them to create a "new political order."
<Photo: Yonhap News>
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