George and Amal Clooney donate $100,000 to Lebanese charities after Beirut explosion

George and Amal Clooney have made major donations to three Lebanese charities after capital Beirut was rocked by a deadly explosion.

At least 135 people were killed and more than 5,000 injured when a blast, apparently triggered by an accidental fire at a port, tore through the city.

Countries around the world, including the UK, have pledged aid.

The Clooneys, who live in Britain, have donated US$100,000 (£76,000) to three charities.

The couple have split their donation between three charities (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Human rights lawyer Amal, 42, was born in Beirut. “We’re both deeply concerned for the people of Beirut and the devastation they’ve faced in the last few days,” the couple said in a statement obtained by the PA news agency.

They have donated money to the Lebanese Red Cross, Impact Lebanon, and Baytna Baytak.

The couple added: “We will be donating to these charities $100,000 and hope that others will help in any way they can.”

Amal and her family left Lebanon when she was two years old, escaping the country’s civil war.

They settled in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, and Amal later studied at Oxford University.

She became engaged to Hollywood star George, 59, in 2014 and they married later that year. They have two children, three-year-old twins Ella and Alexander.

Lebanon has been left devastated by Tuesday’s blast, which has been linked to an accidental fire that ignited a warehouse full of ammonium nitrate.

Lebanon was already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

Reporting by Press Association