Indonesian Bettleship and 120 Marine Soldiers Survived of Beirut Explosionk

Beirut, MINA – Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Lebanon Hajriyanto Y Tohari revealed how the Indonesian Embassy and the Indonesian Battleship Sultan Hasanuddin along with 120 marines from the Garuda Contingent survived from devastating explosion at the port of Beirut on Tuesday, August 4.

“The Indonesian Embassy building is different from the embassies of other countries, most of which have offices in the city center, in Downtown, which is quite bad. The Indonesian Embassy is located on the outskirts of Beirut, next door to the Presidential Palace, there are hills. Between the area and the city of Beirut is an urban forest. The place is high, so the city of Beirut is under our feet, ”said Ambassador Hajriyanto to MINA and Radio Silaturahim in Bekasi when contacted by telephone on Friday night

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Speaking at the MINA News Review (BBM), Hajriyanto expressed his gratitude that the Indonesian Embassy building was only shaken by the explosion.

“There is no damage at all. Alhamdulillah everything is safe, ”he said from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Battleship Sultan Hasanuddin with 120 Indonesian Marines who served as UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL), survived, because they were sailing on patrol on the high seas. The location where the ship used to dock at the Port of Beirut was completely destroyed.

According to Hajriyanto, the Garuda Contingent carrying out a mission as the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon has as many as 1,247 personnel.

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“The Garuda contingent is safe, thank God,” said Hajriyanto.

The ambassador said that it was different from the fate of the Bangladesh warship which always leaned close to Sultan Hasanuddin at the Port of Beirut.

When the explosion occurred, the Bangladesh warship was leaning. The ship was heavily damaged, two of its personnel were killed and seven people were in critical condition in hospital due to the severity of their injuries.

“So, God really saved Battleship Sultan Hasanuddin. The day before sailing, Commander Lt. Col. Lutfi and Major Angga had an audience with me at the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut and said they would only be on duty again a week from now, “he said.

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“But apparently, there was a change in schedule, so that evening, the day before the explosion, he received a sailing assignment, because there was a part of the ship that needed repair. So after the patrol, the plan was for Sultan Hasanddin to go to Mersin port, Turkey, to enter the dock briefly,” he added.

“Yesterday afternoon, we finished from Mersin and now on our way back to Beirut. Alhamdulillah, “said the Indonesian Ambassador.

He also revealed that currently members of the Garuda Indonesian Army Health Division joined other contingents to provide assistance to the victims of the explosion which came from 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)