Heat Does What War Cannot Do: Beirut Radio Silent
A summer heat wave silenced state-owned Beirut radio on Friday and caused its first extended shutdown in 51 years of broadcasting.
“All the wires in the transmitter have rotted because we don’t have air conditioning,” Ayoub Hmayed, an official of Lebanon’s Information Ministry, told a news conference shortly before the radio went off the air.
Announcers had complained of intense heat in the studio, and some technicians had fainted on duty.
Hmayed said the ministry does not have the money to buy a new transmitter. Technicians hope to repair the old one within five or six days, he said.
In the meantime, Lebanon will not be starved for news. Its airwaves are crowded with dozens of commercial radio stations run by rival militias.
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