The chemical cache that apparently exploded was not supposed to be in Lebanon, but arrived there on a troubled freighter. Now, Beirut residents are digging out of the devastation, looking for survivors, victims and answers.
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At least 135 people died and 5,000 were wounded in the blast, and some are still missing, Lebanon’s health minister said.
The thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that Lebanese officials are blaming for the huge explosion arrived in the city aboard an ailing, Russian-owned cargo ship that made an unscheduled stop in the city for more than six years ago.
Lebanese customs officials wrote letters to the courts at least six times from 2014 to 2017, seeking guidance on how to dispose of the highly combustible material, according to public records cited by a Lebanese lawmaker, Salim Aoun.
Solutions proposed by the officials included exporting the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which is used in fertilizer and explosives or donating it to the Lebanese Army. But the judiciary failed to respond to the letters, the records suggested.
The general manager of Beirut port, Hassan Koraytem, confirmed that in an interview on Wednesday, saying that despite repeated requests from customs and security officials, “nothing happened.”
