pInvestigators probing the wednesday blast say there are looking into a possibility of negligence
BEIRUT, Aug 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Investigators probing the deadly blast that ripped across Beirut focused on possible negligence in the storage of tons of a highly explosive fertiliser in a waterfront warehouse, while the government ordered the house arrest of several port officials.
Public anger mounted against the ruling elite that is being blamed for the chronic mismanagement and carelessness that led to the disaster that the health ministry said killed 137 people and injured more than 5,000.
The port of Beirut and customs office is notorious for being one of the most corrupt and lucrative institutions in Lebanon where various factions and politicians, including Hezbollah, hold sway.
The investigation is focusing on how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilisers, came to be stored at the facility for six years, and why nothing was done about it.
Lebanon already was on the brink of collapse amid a severe economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic before the blast. Many have lost their jobs and seen their savings evaporate because of a currency crisis.
Food security is a worry, since the country imports nearly all its vital goods and its main port is now devastated. The government is strapped for cash.
Fueling speculation that negligence was to blame for the accident, an official letter circulating online showed the head of the customs department had warned repeatedly over the years that the huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored in the port was a danger and had asked judicial officials for a ruling on a way to remove it.
Ammonium nitrate is a component of fertiliser that is potentially explosive. The 2,750-tonne cargo had been stored at the port since it was confiscated from a ship in 2013, and on Tuesday it is believed to have detonated after a fire broke out nearby.
The 2017 letter from the customs chief to a judge could not be immediately confirmed, but state prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered security agencies to start an immediate investigation into all letters related to the materials stored at the port, as well as lists of those in charge of maintenance, storage and protection of the hangar.
In the letter, the customs chief warned of the “dangers if the materials remain where they are, affecting the safety of (port) employees” and asked the judge for guidance.
He said five similar letters were sent in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The letter proposes the material be exported or sold to a Lebanese explosives company. It is not known if there was a response.
Badri Daher, the head of the customs department, confirmed to the local LBC TV channel that there were five or six such letters to the judiciary. He said his predecessor also pleaded with the judiciary to issue orders to export the explosive materials “because of how dangerous they are” to the port and staff there.
Daher said it was his duty to “alert” authorities of the dangers but that is the most he could do. “I am not a technical expert.”
President Michel Aoun vowed before a cabinet meeting that the investigation would be transparent and that those responsible will be punished.
“There are no words to describe the catastrophe that hit Beirut,” he said.
After the meeting, the cabinet ordered an unspecified number of Beirut port officials put under house arrest pending the investigation. — NNN-AGENCIES