The deadly explosion in Beirut highlights a danger potentially lurking in some of the world's ports

Ryan Pickrell and Christopher Woody
Aug 7, 2020,

A view of the aftermath of the blast at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut, on August 5, 2020. ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Beirut suffered a devastating explosion on Tuesday that killed more than 100 people and left thousands injured.

Now authorities are investigating why thousands of tons of confiscated ammonium nitrate was stored improperly for years at a warehouse.

The devastating explosion has called attention to a danger that lurks at some ports where resources are limited and regulations are lax.

The tragedy that struck Beirut this week called into focus a danger potentially lurking in ports around the world, one that has more than once led to disaster.

A massive explosion at a port in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday caused extensive damage and destruction, killed at least 100 people, and injured thousands more.

The exact cause of the blast is unclear, but a focus of the investigation is a warehouse where roughly 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate confiscated years earlier was improperly stored. A fire is suspected of igniting the stored material.

"Ammonium nitrate is a perfectly safe material," Richard John Smythe, a chemist with extensive knowledge of explosive materials, told Insider. It's used in mining operations and fertilizer. But "if it is heated to the temperature of a wood fire, it will detonate," he said, adding that "it's got an extreme punch for an explosive."

It has happened before

A man reacts at the scene of an explosion at the port in Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

What appears to have happened in Beirut has been seen in other port disasters. In August 2015, for instance, several explosions at the Port of Tianjin in China killed at least 173 people and injured nearly 800 others. The largest blast was caused by the detonation of 800 metric tons of ammonium nitrate.

The US has also seen ammonium nitrate catastrophes.

In 2013, there was an ammonium nitrate explosion at a fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas, that killed 15 people and injured over 160 others. In 1995, domestic terrorists used ammonium nitrate to build a vehicle bomb that killed 168 people and wounded at least 680 others in Oklahoma City.

And in 1947, a cargo ship carrying 2,100 metric tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded in the Port of Texas City, setting off additional fires and explosions that killed 581 people and injured many others.


While the US has seen tragic ammonium nitrate explosions, experts told Insider that it is unlikely the US would see a Beirut-style disaster now given regulations put in place after previous incidents.

A Chinese soldier in protection suit sprays liquid on the debris at the site of blasts in Binhai new district of Tianjin, China, August 21, 2015. Thomson Reuters

Ammonium nitrate is regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Department of Homeland Security; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Among the regulations, of particular importance are the Maritime Security Act, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, and the Ammonium Nitrate Proposed Rule. The first guides maritime transfer, the second governs storage, and the third puts restrictions on sales.

What happened in Beirut "technically should be impossible in the US," Sim Tack, global security analyst for Stratfor, a Risk Assessment and Exchange company, told Insider, pointing not only to storage and quantity regulations and restrictions but also US requirements that ammonium nitrate be kept away from inhabited areas.

Unusual, but not impossible

A helicopter puts out a fire at the scene of an explosion at the port of Lebanon's capital Beirut on August 4, 2020. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images


Jimmie Oxley, an explosives expert at the University of Rhode Island, agreed, saying the risk is very low in the US today.

"You will find it is very hard to buy ammonium nitrate in this country," Oxley said.

In addition to requirements to report certain quantities of ammonium nitrate to federal agencies and regulations on proper storage, the US also has various restrictions on the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate, which are strengthened by accepted know-your-customer practices among manufacturers.

If a US port had to deal with the rather unusual situation that Beirut did and bring in a vessel carrying thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, it "would still have to fulfill all requirements," Tack said. Those requirements include providing suitable storage with adequate fire protection systems, among other things.


While taking those steps does not "entirely remove the risk if something goes wrong," doing so "severely limits the potential" for disaster, Tack said.

A picture shows the scene of an explosion at the port in the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4, 2020 Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images

The circumstances that brought the ammonium nitrate to Beirut reflect what Rockford Weitz, director of maritime studies at Tufts University's Fletcher School, called "the low end" of global shipping, with an aging vessel carrying a potentially dangerous cargo between two countries under the flag of a third country.

But Americans shouldn't worry that something similar might happen in the US.

"Because it's been going through political turmoil and economic turmoil and a series of civil wars, Lebanon's regulatory agencies and coast guard and port authorities are like night and day from the United States," Weitz added.


"I don't fear any of this stuff happening in the United States," Weitz said. "It would happen only in a country that has an under-resourced and essentially ... an incapable regulatory framework."

Across the Middle East, where regulations are often not adequately enforced, materials like ammonium nitrate are transferred more easily and are commonly used to make improvised explosive devices.

Oxley and Tack said that what happened in Beirut is a lingering risk at unregulated ports in developing countries.

"The fact that it did not raise any questions among any of the people working at the port or authorities governing the port, the fact that they had nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in bags in the back of an unsecured hanger, that would be insane in the US" today, Tack said.


NOW WATCH: Lebanon was already in financial crisis before the explosion in Beirut — and now experts are predicting devastating consequences
https://www.businessinsider.com/beirut-blast-highlights-port-dangers-2020-8?jwsource=cl

A year after Beirut blast, Lebanese diaspora in Canada demands accountability

Activist group brings together Lebanese people in 35 cities around the world

Michelle Ghoussoub · CBC News 

· Posted: Aug 04, 2021 

Julnar Doueik is a member of the United Diaspora Network — also called Meghterbin Mejtemiin — a group based in 35 cities around the world including Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, that seeks to support Lebanon from abroad. 

(Antonin Sturlese/CBC)

A year after a massive explosion in Beirut killed 214 people, destroyed much of the city and sank Lebanon's economy further into despair, Lebanese Canadians are calling on Ottawa to redirect its financial assistance away from Lebanon's government while demanding a complete investigation into the blast.

On Aug. 4, 2020, a fire at the Port of Beirut ignited a stash of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for six years in a warehouse, without proper safety measures, after having been confiscated by the Lebanese authorities from an abandoned ship.

It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. Two Canadians, including a three-year-old girl, were among those killed.

Documents have since shown that high-level officials were warned multiple times of the risk but failed to act.

An investigation has so far failed to determine who ordered the shipment of chemicals and why officials ignored those warnings.

Parents of Canadian child killed in Beirut blast say lack of justice is 'enraging'

Julnar Doueik, who moved from Beirut to Vancouver just weeks before the explosion, says there has been little to no accountability, making it impossible to move on.

"Our wound is still open, our emotional and psychological bruises are as painful as they were a year ago — but we're also very furious because justice is nowhere to be found in Lebanon. The political class that is the cause of the Beirut blast, because of criminal negligence, they're still obstructing the investigation," she said.

"A lot of lives were lost. A whole city was destroyed. Canadian lives were lost as well during this explosion and we don't have answers."

People in Beirut carry pictures of some of the victims of the blast in the city's port district, during a march on Wednesday, as Lebanon marks the one-year anniversary of the explosion. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Doueik is part of the United Diaspora Network — also called Meghterbin Mejtemiin — a group based across 35 cities around the world including Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, that seeks to support Lebanon from abroad.

The group is calling on the Canadian government to provide technical assistance in the investigation, to halt humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese government and to, instead, redirect funds to civil society groups.

Over the past year, Canada has provided around $50 million toward early recovery efforts, humanitarian assistance and long-term reconstruction of the city.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said Wednesday that Canada continues to call for a full and transparent investigation.

"We continue to firmly stand with the Lebanese people and are ready to support them further. Canada will continue to reiterate that Lebanon's leaders must act now to form a government that can and will begin the reforms the country so desperately needs," Garneau said in a statement.

Thousands of Lebanese call for justice 1 year after massive explosion
Economic crisis deepens

Since the explosion, Lebanon has fallen further into economic crisis while trying to rebuild, leading to a devastating currency crash, hyperinflation and widespread shortages.

Doueik says the United Diaspora Network is fundraising to send supplies, including life-saving medicines, in suitcases with people travelling back to Lebanon.

"We're trying here to mobilize the Lebanese community in Canada. We need to gather our energy to support the people back home," she said.

"We get calls every day from our families back home, from friends, about how hard it is the get the basic supplies. Mothers cannot find milk for their babies. Sick people cannot find medicine. There's a shortage of electricity and fuel. It is heartbreaking."

A vigil for the victims of the blast will be held at UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver at 6 p.m. PT on Wednesday.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Ghoussoub is a television, radio and digital reporter with CBC News in Vancouver. Reach her at michelle.ghoussoub@cbc.ca or on Twitter @MichelleGhsoub.

OPINION
Lebanon is edging toward the abyss, suffering from existential divisions stoked by sectarian leaders

DANY ASSAF
CONTRIBUTED TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL
PUBLISHED  AUGUST 4, 2021
Dany Assaf is a Toronto-based lawyer and author and member of the Lebanese Canadian Coalition, which helped organize relief efforts for the Beirut explosion.

On this first anniversary of the devastating explosion in Beirut, it’s important to assess the broader damage suffered in Lebanon and the global implications. In the aftermath of the disaster, I worked with Lebanese Canadians and people from many other backgrounds to get humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

Yet a year on, the larger issues for Lebanon’s rebuilding and its progress remain unresolved as the country edges toward the abyss, threatened by forces of institutional corruption and outdated sectarian government structures.

At the time of the explosion, Canadians of all stripes and our government jumped to help because of the strong connections built over the past century. Many of us see Lebanon as an ancient crossroads of civilization and, like Canada, a place of accommodation between peoples of different faiths and family histories, and one that has contributed much beauty in poetry, the arts, fashion, food and culture.

Indeed, Lebanon is a place where Christians and Muslims share life and love of country. Yet today, sadly, it suffers from existential divisions. These divisions have been stoked and manipulated by sectarian leaders in the wake of the devastation of the explosion and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lebanese joie de vivre is renowned, but today the country’s indelible spirit has been weakened and Lebanon is aching for a hand up. Sometimes in helping friends, we can also help ourselves by engaging globally in responsible ways to champion shared values. In this case, “we” means not only Canada, but the West generally as the values that are important to us are important to most Lebanese, who are fiercely independent people who cherish the value of freedom.

This is why the West can’t lose Lebanon. With recent failures to bring sustainable security and beat back threats to freedom in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and elsewhere, it becomes only more critical today for the West to prioritize help to save Lebanon. If, as U.S. President Joe Biden has stated, “America is back,” Lebanon is the place to unite the West to push back against the erosion of freedom we see in many corners.

While we have seen the folly of unwise military adventures, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a continuing role for leaders of freedom and inclusive progress to support liberal values in this increasingly multipolar world. Times change, but it remains constant that humans are born free, yet many people then spend their lives struggling to resist the efforts of others to control them. Regardless of what we see in any headline or government news release, humanity always yearns for freedom.

The loss of Lebanon and what it represents to its region and beyond would be a sad chapter in the current global climate. The country should be a model for religious accommodation, the advancement of women’s rights in Asia and entrepreneurial energy in the digital age.

Yet Lebanon is being threatened by a sectarian government framework that substitutes loyalty to sect for merit as the operating principle to run its vital functions. In short, Lebanon is an extreme example of a country no longer run in the interests of a large majority of its population, and it is incapable of self-correction.


So how can the country be fixed? Today, the U.S. is in the midst of renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran’s government, and a hard term of settlement should include support for the demilitarization of all militias in Lebanon and the consolidation of all military power in the hands of the Lebanese army.

This is an essential starting point, as the very definition of a nation is that the state controls its sole military power. As well, no significant investments can be made in a country with more than one military force.

Lebanon also represents key U.S. and Western interests as home to a large refugee population, and the collapse of Lebanon would trigger another wave of refugee migration to Europe. Successful efforts by the U.S., Canada and others may also improve Lebanese-Israeli security, and help set the stage for more effective future Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Today, Canada should draw upon on its Lester B. Pearson moment in the Suez Crisis of 1956 to reinvigorate our diplomatic tools and rally global efforts to help save Lebanon and secure a win for freedom and hope in these messy times. It has often been said the world needs more Canada. The question today is whether Canada will deliver.

Lebanon judge probing Beirut blast charges top prosecutor


Tue, 24 January 2023 


Lebanon's judge Tarek Bitar, who is investigating the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast, has charged Lebanon's top prosecutor and seven others with probable intent to murder, arson and other crimes, an official said Tuesday.

Bitar had sparked surprise in Lebanon a day before when he charged eight top security and judicial officials, reviving a probe that was suspended for over a year amid vehement political and legal pushback.

It emerged on Tuesday from a judicial source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity that Prosecutor General Ghassan Oueidat was among those charged, joining those who had already been announced on Monday including the head of General Security, Abbas Ibrahim, and State Security agency chief Tony Saliba.

The Beirut port blast of August 4, 2020 -- one of history's biggest non-nuclear explosions -- destroyed most of Beirut port and swathes of the capital, killing more than 215 people and injuring over 6,500.

Authorities said the mega-explosion was sparked by a fire in a portside warehouse, where a vast stockpile of the volatile industrial chemical ammonium nitrate had been haphazardly stored for years.

Relatives of the dead have been holding monthly vigils, seeking justice and accountability over the disaster, which they blame on an entrenched ruling class widely seen as inept and corrupt.

A US State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that "we support and urge Lebanese authorities to complete a swift and transparent investigation into the horrific explosion at the Port of Beirut".

- 'Like he doesn't exist' -

Lebanese state institutions have been reluctant to cooperate with the probe, which began the same month as the explosion.

The prosecution service rejected the resumption of the probe, according to a document seen by AFP Tuesday.

"We were only informed of Bitar's decision through the media," Oueidat, the top prosecutor, told AFP.

"Since he considers that the general prosecution doesn't exist, we will also act like he doesn't exist."

The arm-wrestling between Oueidat and Bitar is the latest of crisis-torn Lebanon's mounting woes, as the value of the national currency hit a new record low against the US dollar on Tuesday.

Protesters blocked roads in Beirut and other regions in the evening to voice anger over the weakened Lebanese pound and deteriorating living conditions, the state National News Agency reported.

Bitar's probe has been met with strong opposition from government figures and the powerful Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, which has accused him of political bias.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally Amal called for demonstrations to demand his dismissal in October 2021, when a gun battle broke out at a Beirut rally and seven people were killed.

"Port investigation: Tarek Bitar has gone mad," ran the headline of the pro-Hezbollah daily Al-Akhbar, which also accused him of acting "on the basis of American orders and with European judicial support".

Bitar last week met with two French magistrates, who came to Beirut as part of the country's own investigation into the explosion that killed and injured French nationals.

- Delays and pushback -

The judge was forced to suspend his probe for more than a year after a barrage of lawsuits, mainly from politicians he had summoned on charges of negligence.

Bitar now plans to question 14 suspects next month, including five officials whom he indicted earlier -- among them ex-prime minister Hassan Diab and former ministers.

According to the unnamed judicial official, Oueidat had in 2019 overseen a security services investigation into cracks in the warehouse where the ammonium nitrate was stored.

In February 2021, Bitar's predecessor as lead judge was removed from the case after he had charged several high-level politicians.

The interior ministry has also failed to execute arrest warrants issued by Bitar, further undermining his quest for accountability.

Rights group Amnesty International charged Monday that "Lebanese authorities have shamelessly and systematically obstructed the pursuit of justice" and called on them to "ensure that the domestic investigation can proceed without political interference".

str-rh/aya/dv

Lebanese prosecutor to question ministers over Beirut blast, amidst public outrage



Issued on: 13/08/2020

Demonstrators wave Lebanese flags during protests near the site of a blast at Beirut's port area, August 11, 2020. © REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/File Photo

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Lebanon's judiciary will question several ministers, a judicial official said Wednesday, over a massive chemical blast at a Beirut port warehouse that ravaged the capital.

Survivors and volunteers were still sweeping pulverised glass off rubble-strewn streets a week after a large depot of industrial chemicals blew up at Beirut's port, a blast President Michel Aoun estimated had caused more than $15 billion-worth of damage.

The official death toll rose to 171, while 6,500 were injured and 300,000 left temporarily homeless in the country's worst peacetime disaster.

Top diplomats streamed into Lebanon to show solidarity and urge reforms to curb the corruption blamed for allowing a vast stock of ammonium nitrate, a compound often used in homemade bombs, to rot for years at the port despite repeated warnings.

An AFP investigation found that up until the day before the deadly blast, officials had exchanged warnings over the cargo, but did nothing despite experts' fears it could cause a massive conflagration.


A judicial official said Wednesday that the prosecution would question several ministers and former ministers over the disaster.

Meanwhile, at Beirut's main fire station, a stone's throw from the charred and ruined port, firefighters held an emotional funeral for one of 10 comrades they lost in the catastrophe.

"May God be with you, our hero," firefighters cried as they saw off the coffin of their lost friend Jo Noun during their fourth such ceremony since the August 4 disaster.

Ten firefighters are confirmed to have died, and six more are still among the missing, including three members of the same family.

Rina Hitti, the mother of one and related to the two others, said: "In one piece or several, we want our sons back."

Direct aid

Emergency crews on Wednesday were still searching the dusty "ground zero" where the explosion pulverised buildings and left a water-logged 43-metre-deep crater where a quay and warehouses once stood.

The human error that sparked devastation worthy of a major earthquake has sparked public rage, matched only by the speed at which officials are seen to be passing the buck.

Around 100 of the wounded were recently still listed in critical condition and it was feared the death toll could yet rise as Beirut's hospitals treat the casualties.

More than half of 55 healthcare facilities evaluated by the World Health Organization were "non-functional," the agency said Wednesday, adding that three major hospitals were out of operation and another three running at well below normal capacity, he said.

Among those killed was a diplomat from Germany, whose Foreign Minister Heiko Maas arrived in Lebanon Wednesday for a short visit of support.

In a social media message, he stressed the need for "profound economic reform".

He also announced a one million-euro donation directly to the Lebanese Red Cross, in line with a pledge that emergency aid should bypass a government that has lost its people's trust.

Jockeying

Angry protesters demonstrated for a third night running Tuesday to demand the wholesale ouster of a ruling political elite they see as directly responsible for the port tragedy.

Mock gallows and nooses have become the symbols of the new wave of protests, which have rekindled a revolutionary street movement that had lost steam in recent months amid economic hardship and the coronavirus pandemic.

Under intense domestic and foreign pressure, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his government's resignation on Monday.

Many have bitterly dismissed his efforts to cast himself as a champion of the fight against corruption, labelling him instead as a puppet of the long-standing political elite.

Some saw the government's departure as a victory and a sign that continued pressure could finally force change in a country ruled by the same cartel of former warlords and their relatives since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Others feared that the resignation could herald the return of old faces such as former prime minister Saad Hariri.

According to the Al-Akhbar newspaper, Nawaf Salam, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, is favoured by some of Lebanon's top foreign partners, including France.

However, the paper said, Salam is not an acceptable choice for powerful Iranian-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday warned Tehran against interfering in Lebanon, urging his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani "to avoid any outside interference and to support the putting in place of a government which can manage the emergency," the Elysee said.

Meanwhile, a return of Hariri, who resigned under pressure from the street late last year, could spark even more outrage among a protest camp re-invigorated by the disaster.

Parliament was due to convene on Thursday to approve a state of emergency, which would give security forces heightened powers to curb the street demonstrations.

(AFP)

Two years after October 17 protests, Lebanon's economic crisis worse than ever

FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin interviews Lynn Harfoush, an executive committee member of Lebanon's secular National Bloc party, in Beirut on October 17, 2021.

Issued on: 17/10/2021 - 

Text by :FRANCE 24Follow|

Video by: Claire PACCALIN

Two years after Lebanon's so-called October 17 movement began with major nationwide protests, disillusionment and fear prevail in the country. Several prime ministers have come and gone since 2019, but the protesters’ demands have not been met. FRANCE 24's Claire Paccalin speaks with Lynn Harfoush, an executive committee member of the National Bloc political party, who remains undeterred.

Turnout was small at the October 17 demonstration this year, but Harfoush, an executive committee member of Lebanon's secular National Bloc party said there was still reason for hope.

“It is a bit disappointing, but at the same time, it’s something we understand,” Harfoush said of the low turnout. “The crisis has grown much bigger. Some people are even unable to commute to come here. But what we are sure of, and the reason that we still believe in the October 17 revolution, is that it did light this flame of change in a lot of people’s hearts.”

Harfoush said the economic situation was worse than ever. “We’ve moved from worrying about how we were going to spend our days to worrying about whether we would find any gas, electricity, water … we’ve moved to worrying about our minimum needs. Gas has become very expensive, while the minimum wage is still very low,” she said, adding that many Lebanese have lost their jobs and were worried about the inflation crisis.

Harfoush said the protest movement was also demanding progress in the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut Port. “It is a very big date for us, because it proved to the people that the political class is not only unable to provide for their needs but it is also unable to protect them.” Bringing those responsible for the blast, which claimed the lives of more than 217 people and destroyed the port and a large part of the city “has become a top demand of all the October 17 revolution movements", she said.

Harfoush said it might take a long time, but her party and other participants in the protest movement would continue working. “There’s a lot for us to do. There’s this whole political class that we need to overcome,” she said.

Click on the video player to watch the full report.

Low turnout as Lebanese mark two years of protests

Issued on: 17/10/2021 - 

Dozens of protesters marched in the Lebanese capital Beirut on October 17, 2021 to mark the second anniversary of the start of the now defunct protest movement 

ANWAR AMRO AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Lebanon marked the second anniversary of its defunct protest movement with a low-key demonstration in Beirut Sunday, while many stayed away amid grinding economic woes and deadly tensions over a port blast probe.

Dozens marched under rain clouds towards Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, an AFP photographer said.

Mass protests bringing together Lebanese from all backgrounds erupted on October 17, 2019, denouncing deteriorating living conditions as well as alleged official graft and mismanagement, after the government announced a plan to tax phone calls made over messaging service WhatsApp.

Cross-sectarian demonstrations swept the country, demanding the overthrow of political barons in power since at least the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Two years on, Lebanon is mired in a ballooning financial crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, and battered by a devastating explosion at Beirut's port on August 4 last year.

Draconian banking restrictions have prevented many Lebanese from accessing their savings, while the local currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value to the dollar on the black market.

Almost 80 percent of the population live in poverty, struggling to put food on the table in the face of endless price hikes, fuel shortages and power cuts.

One who did protest on Sunday, Rabih Zein, said it was not just previous police crackdowns that had kept demonstrators away.

"If anyone is wondering why there are not many people, it's because they've deprived us of petrol, electricity and the money we put in banks," he said.

Each person marching represented many more who were forced to stay at home, Zein claimed.

"Today is a symbolic stand. God willing, we will move towards change at the parliamentary elections" next spring, said the 37-year-old television producer from the northern city of Tripoli.

The protest movement has given birth to a flurry of new political groups, which many hope will run in the upcoming polls.

The port blast killed more than 210 people and wrecked swathes of Beirut. But no one has yet been held accountable in a domestic investigation which top politicians have tried to hamper at every turn.

On Thursday, seven people were killed in central Beirut during gunfire following a rally by supporters of the country's two main Shiite parties calling for the dismissal of the lead investigator in the case.

Fatima Mahyu, a protester from Beirut, said some people were likely too scared to come out on Sunday.

"There is fear and weariness," said the mother of two, both of whom have emigrated. "People are exhausted."

Another protester, Micheline Abu Khater, a history teacher, said she was staying in Lebanon for the upcoming elections.

"I am full of hope for change," she said.

© 2021 AFP

 

France Unveils Latest Plan to Rebuild the Port of Beirut

Beirut's port was devastated by the 2020 explosion (Image courtesy Iran's Mehr News - CC BY 4.0)

PUBLISHED MAR 15, 2024 3:21 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

As Lebanon continues to seek to rebuild the Port of Beirut almost four years after the ammonium nitrate explosion, France has come forward with a new proposal. At a conference in Beirut this week, Lebanese and French officials revealed the port’s reconstruction and re-organization plan. 

The proposal aims to repair the damaged infrastructure, optimize the port layout for better traffic flow, and enable the transition to the use of solar power. However, the proposal does not address the rebuilding of the grain silos, which experienced the most impact during the blast.

Two French engineering firms, Artelia and Egis, were involved in the development of the plan through funding from the French government. Another French public agency Expertise France, conducted a study with recommendations on how to improve security at the Port of Beirut.

“The plan has been accepted and the port’s revenue will be used to finance the required investments,” Lebanon’s transport and public works minister Ali Hamie told the French newspaper Le Monde. 

Restoration of the state’s infrastructure destroyed during the explosion is estimated at $60 to 80 million. However, this cost rises to $140 million while accounting for private companies' infrastructure which was impacted, according to a 2021 assessment by USAID’s Middle East Economic Growth Project.

With the restoration costs expected to come from the port’s revenue, Director General of the Port of Beirut Omar Itani noted that there have been several positive changes after the disaster. He highlighted that revenues increased to nearly $150 million in 2023 from a low of $9 million in 2020. The number of containers handled also rose to 800,000 TEUs last year from around 600,000 TEUs in 2022. However, this is still low compared to the 1.2 million TEUs that the port handled in 2019 before the explosion.

France was among the first responders, with President Emmanuel Macron visiting the country on August 6, 2020, two days after the explosion. At the time, Macron promised to rally international players for financial support to the Lebanese people.

This week, the French ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro reiterated France’s support for Lebanon. “The Lebanese economy needs a port that has been rebuilt, modernized, and made safe. The French government has made the issue of the port a priority and one of the pillars of French cooperation with Lebanon,” said Magro.

In 2022, CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of the ocean carrier CMA CGM won a ten-year concession to run and manage the Port of Beirut’s container terminal. The firm pledged to invest $33 million in the terminal, focused mainly on replacing, renewing, and purchasing new equipment.

Besides France, Germany in 2021 also presented a comprehensive proposal to rebuild the port, in addition to redeveloping more than 100 hectares of the surrounding area, including residential developments. 

Large section of smoldering Beirut port silos collapses

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB

yesterday

1 of 6

This image from a video, shows smoke and dust rising from collapsing silos damaged during the August 2020 massive explosion in the port, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. The ruins of the Beirut Port silos' northern block that withstood a devastating port explosion two years ago has collapsed. The smoldering structure fell over on Tuesday morning into a cloud of dust, leaving the southern block standing next to a pile of charred ruins. (AP Photo/Lujain Jo)


BEIRUT (AP) — Another significant section of the devastated Beirut Port silos collapsed on Tuesday morning in a cloud of dust. No injuries were reported — the area had been long evacuated — but the collapse was another painful reminder of the horrific August 2020 explosion.

The collapse left the silos’ southern part standing next to a pile of charred ruins. The northern block had already been slowly tipping over since the initial explosion two years ago but rapidly deteriorated after it caught fire over a month ago due to fermenting grains.

The 50 year old, 48 meter (157 feet) tall silos had withstood the force of the explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, effectively shielding the western part of Beirut from the blast that killed over 200 people, injured more than 6,000 and badly damaged entire neighborhoods.

Emmanuel Durand, a French civil engineer who volunteered for the government-commissioned team of experts, told The Associated Press that the speed of the tilt rapidly accelerated overnight on Monday, just hours before the collapse.

“There was a very sharp acceleration, which was expected,” Durand explained. “When this happens, you know it’s going to go.”

The country’s caretaker environment minister, Nasser Yassin, told Lebanese TV that the government will now look into how to ensure the southern block remains standing. He urged residents near the port to wear masks, and said experts would conduct air quality tests.

In April, the Lebanese government decided to demolish the silos, but suspended the decision following protests from families of the blast’s victims and survivors. They contend that the silos may contain evidence useful for the judicial probe, and that it should stand as a memorial for the 2020 tragedy.

In July, a fire broke out in the northern block of the silos due to the fermenting grains. Firefighters and Lebanese Army soldiers were unable to put it out and it smoldered for over a month. Officials had warned that the silo could collapse, but feared risking the lives of firefighters and soldiers who struggled to get too close to put out the blaze or drop containers of water from helicopters.

Survivors of the blast and residents near the port have told the AP that watching the fire from their homes and offices was like reliving the trauma from the port blast, which started with a fire in a warehouse near the silos that contained hundreds of tons of explosive ammonium nitrate, improperly stored there for years.

The environment and health ministries in late July issued instructions to residents living near the port to stay indoors in well-ventilated spaces.

Durand last month told the AP that the fire from the grains had sped up the speed of the tilt of the shredded silo and caused irreversible damage to its weak concrete foundation.

The structure has rapidly deteriorated ever since. In late July, part of the northern block collapsed for the first time. Days later on the second anniversary of the Beirut Port blast, roughly a fourth of the structure collapsed. On Sunday, the fire expanded to large sections of the silo.

 

Protesters Call for Justice on Anniversary of Port of Beirut Blast

Image courtesy UNIFL

PUBLISHED AUG 4, 2021 7:34 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

On the first anniversary of the massive blast that rocked the Port of Beirut last year, thousands of citizens marched to the waterfront to demand accountability for the senior officials who are widely believed to bear responsibility for the explosion. 

The cxplosion of a poorly-stored cargo of ammonium nitrate killed more than 200 people and injured more than 7,000, leaving tens of thousands more without housing or work. Documents and testimony collected by Human Rights Watch suggest that "port, customs, and army officials ignored steps they could have taken to secure or destroy the material," many years before the blast. According to HRW, Ministry of Public Works and Transport officials were negligent in handling the cargo, and "knowingly stored the ammonium nitrate in Beirut’s port alongside flammable or explosive materials for nearly six years in a poorly secured and ventilated hangar in the middle of a densely populated commercial and residential area." 

Further, Lebanon's security apparatus - including Military Intelligence, which was responsible for the security of munitions at the port - was allegedly aware of the cargo's danger but took little action, despite repeated warnings. Even after members of Lebanon's Higher Defense Council were appraised - including the interior minister, the director of general security, the prime minister and the president - little timely intervention occurred. Prime Minister Hassan Diab was allegedly informed of the risk as early as June 3, 2020, but he canceled a personal inspection of the port after an advisor told him that the cargo wasn't that dangerous, according to HRW. In an interview, Diab told Human Rights Watch, "I then forgot about it, and nobody followed up. There are disasters every day."

In a lucky twist of fate, theft and diversion may have reduced the impact of the massive blast. The cargo was stored unguarded in a hangar with a broken door, adjacent to the port's grain silo. Photos obtained by HRW and Lebanese investigators appear to show that some of the one-tonne bags of ammonium nitrate in the hangar were partially empty, and others were spilled, indicating the possibility of pilferage. 

A recently-revealed FBI assessment of the blast estimated that 550 tonnes of ammonium nitrate - not 2,750 tonnes, the amount delivered and stored - had exploded on August 4, 2020. The FBI assessed that "it is not logical that all of [the one-tonne cargo bags] were present at the time of the explosion," suggesting that some of the cargo had gone missing and could not contribute to the strength of the explosion. 

The investigation into the cause of the blast has slowed, and investigating judge Tarek Bitar's efforts to question high-level officials and politicians have run into resistance from the political establishment. The previous judge on the case, Fadi Sawan, faced accusations of political bias for attempting to question high-ranking officials, and he was ultimately removed from the case by two of the politicians he was investigating. 

Bitar is finding traction in some parts of his investigation: on Friday, for the first time, Lebanese President Michel Aoun informed Lebanon's public prosecutor that he would be willing to give a statement to investigators about the circumstances behind the explosion.

Lebanon has less than a month's grain reserves after Beirut blast
Issued on: 05/08/2020 -

In this photograph taken on July 15, 2020, a woman spreads bulgur to dry in the sun after grinding it in the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun. © Joseph Eid, AFP

Text by:NEWS WIRES

Lebanon's main grain silo at Beirut port was destroyed in a blast, leaving the nation with less than a month's reserves of the grain but still with enough flour to avoid a crisis, the economy minister said on Wednesday.

Raoul Nehme told Reuters a day after Tuesday's devastating explosion that Lebanon needed reserves for at least three months to ensure food security and was looking at other storage areas.

The explosion was the most powerful to rip through Beirut, a city torn apart by civil war three decades ago. The economy was already in meltdown before the blast, slowing grain imports as the nation struggled to find hard currency for purchases.

"There is no bread or flour crisis," the minister said. "We have enough inventory and boats on their way to cover the needs of Lebanon on the long term.”

He said grain reserves in Lebanon's remaining silos stood at "a bit less than a month" but said the destroyed silos had only held 15,000 tonnes of the grain at the time, much less than capacity which one official put at 120,000 tonnes.

Beirut's port district was a mangled wreck, disabling the main entry point for imports to feed a nation of more than 6 million people.

Ahmed Tamer, the director of Tripoli port, Lebanon's second biggest facility, said his port did not have grain storage but cargoes could be taken to warehouses 2 km (about one mile) away.

"I want to reassure all Lebanese that we can receive the vessels," he said.

Alongside Tripoli, the ports of Saida, Selaata and Jiyeh were also equipped to handle grain, the economy minister said.

But former Deputy Prime Minister Ghassan Hasbani said other ports did not have the same capabilities.

Hani Bohsali, head of the importers' syndicate said: "We fear there will be a huge supply chain problem, unless there is an international consensus to save us.”

Reserves of flour were sufficient to cover market needs for a month and a half and there were four ships carrying 28,000 tonnes of wheat heading to Lebanon, Ahmed Hattit, the head of the wheat importers union, told Al-Akhbar newspaper.

Lebanon is trying to transfer immediately four vessels carrying 25,000 tonnes of flour to the port in Tripoli, one official told LBCI news channel.

(REUTERS)

Lebanon's top Christian cleric says judge probing port blast must be allowed to pursue truth


Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai is pictured during a meeting in Bkerke

Sun, January 29, 2023 at 6:49 AM MST·2 min read

AMMAN (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian cleric called on Sunday for the judge struggling to investigate the Beirut port explosion to be able to pursue his work and get help from any outside authority to pinpoint those responsible for the devastating blast.

Long-simmering tensions over the investigation have boiled over since Judge Tarek Bitar brought charges against some of the most influential people in Lebanon, defying political pressure to scrap the inquiry into the disaster that killed 220 people.

With friends and allies of Lebanon's most powerful factions, including Hezbollah, among those charged, the establishment struck back swiftly last week when the prosecutor general charged Bitar with usurping powers.

Critics called it "a coup" against his investigation.

"We hope investigating Judge Tareq Bitar continues his work to uncover the truth and issue a decision and get help from any international authority that can help disclose the truth...," Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, influential patriarch of Lebanon's largest Christian community, said in a sermon.

The Aug. 4, 2020 blast was caused by hundreds of tonnes of improperly stored chemicals of which the president and prime minister at the time were aware, among other officials.

Bitar resumed his inquiry on Jan. 23 after a 13-month break caused by legal wrangling and high-level political pressure, issuing charges against a number of senior officials including top public prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat.

Oweidat rejected Bitar's move and filed charges against him for allegedly mishandling the inquiry, as well as ordering the release of people detained in connection with the blast.

Rai has long said that Lebanon's judiciary should be free of political interference and sectarian activism.

"We won't allow however long it takes and rulers change to let the crime of the port pass without punishment."

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Rescuers work through the night as death toll rises following massive Beirut explosions

Lebanon’s prime minister said the blast was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate.

Drone footage of the blast area in Beirut
Image: Hussein Malla/AP/PA Images

RESCUERS WORKED THROUGH the night into today after two enormous explosions ripped through Beirut’s port, killing at least 100 people and injuring thousands, as they wrecked buildings across the Lebanese capital.

The second blast sent an enormous orange fireball into the sky, immediately followed by a tornado-like shockwave that flattened the port and shattered windows across the city.

The explosions — which were heard in Nicosia, 240 kilometres away in Cyprus — were logged by seismologists, registering as the equivalent of a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

Bloodied, dazed and wounded people stumbled among the debris, glass shards and burning buildings in central Beirut.

The wounded receive treatment in the car park of Al Roum Hospital.Source: Marwan Naamani/DPA/PA Images

Around 4,000 people were hurt by the blasts, with injuries recorded right across the city.

Lebanon is already reeling from an economic crisis that has left more than half of the population in poverty. The situation has been worsened in recent months by the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab said 2,750 tonnes of the agricultural fertiliser ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a portside warehouse had blown up, sparking “a disaster in every sense of the word”.

“What happened today will not pass without accountability,” said Diab. “Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price.”

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said the material had been confiscated years earlier and stored in the warehouse, just minutes from Beirut’s shopping and nightlife districts.

A soldier at the port, where relatives of the missing scrambled for news of their loved ones, told AFP: “It’s a catastrophe inside. There are corpses on the ground. Ambulances are still lifting the dead.”

A woman in her twenties stood screaming at security forces, asking about the fate of her brother, a port employee.

“His name is Jad, his eyes are green,” she pleaded, to no avail as officers refused her entry.

“It was like an atomic bomb,” said Makrouhie Yerganian, a retired schoolteacher in her mid-70s who has lived near the port for decades.

“I’ve experienced everything, but nothing like this before,” even during the country’s 1975-1990 civil war, she said.

“All the buildings around here have collapsed.”

AFP correspondents across the city saw shop and apartment windows blown out and streets covered with broken glass.

Photos posted online showed damage to the inside of Beirut airport’s terminal, nine kilometres from the explosion.

Hospitals already struggling with the country’s coronavirus outbreak were overwhelmed by the influx of wounded people and the country’s Red Cross called for urgent blood donations.

‘We saw the mushroom’

As the national defence council declared Beirut a disaster zone, Diab appealed to Lebanon’s allies to “stand by” the country and “help us treat these deep wounds”.

President Michel Aoun declared three days of mourning, and announced he would release 100 billion lira (€55 million) of emergency funds.

Condolences poured in from across the world with Gulf nations, the United States and even Lebanon’s arch foe Israel offering to send aid. France also promised to send assistance.

Ambulances driving by the site of the explosions.Source: Hassan Ammar/PA Images

AFP video footage showed areas of near-complete devastation, with cars flipped onto their roofs, warehouses flattened and survivors drenched from head to toe in their own blood.

“We heard an explosion, then we saw the mushroom,” said a Beirut resident who witnessed the second deafening explosion from her balcony in the city’s Mansourieh district.

“The force of the blast threw us backwards into the apartment.”

An AFP correspondent at the scene minutes after said every shop in the Hamra commercial district had been damaged, with entire storefronts destroyed and many cars wrecked.

A huge blaze sent up black smoke from the port area, as helicopters dumped water on burning buildings.

A ship moored off the port was on fire, and the blasts also damaged a vessel deployed with United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL and injured some of its personnel.

‘Like an earthquake’

Hundreds shared their shock and grief on social media.

“Buildings are shaking,” tweeted one resident, while another wrote: “An enormous, deafening explosion just engulfed Beirut. Heard it from miles away.”

Online footage from a Lebanese newspaper office showed blown-out windows, scattered furniture and demolished interior panelling.

The explosions hit a country already reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades.

The local currency has plunged, and businesses have shuttered en masse, as poverty and unemployment have soared at an alarming rate.

Charity Save the Children said “the incident could not have occurred at a worse time”.

'The final blow' - Beirut blast batters struggling hospitals

Ellen Francis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The St. George Hospital where Soha Khalaf works as a nurse lies less than a mile from Beirut port. She had no time to recover from the enormous explosion that blasted over the city.

A man fixes damages at the Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, after a massive blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon, August 11, 2020. Picture taken August 11, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

The ceiling crashed onto her head and tears streamed down her face, but she stuck to her task.

“People ran here yelling, ‘please we need the ER.’ But the ER was gone. And wherever I turned, I saw staff rushing down from other floors screaming,” recalled Khalaf, assistant head nurse at the emergency room of Lebanon’s oldest hospital.

Needles flew across the hall. Blood covered the floor. The lights went off.

Hundreds of people poured in from across the Lebanese capital after the Aug. 4 warehouse blast, which killed more than 170 people and demolished neighbourhoods.

“We just kept working, even as some of us bled, and we cried and cried.”

With her colleagues, Khalaf stitched, intubated and bandaged victims on the pavement outside the ER. They stopped random cars to send patients to other hospitals, and relied on light from mobile phones as it got dark.

Across Beirut, doctors and nurses recounted a night of horror that shook up veteran medical workers in a city no stranger to explosions.

The aftermath of the blast has also raised fears for a healthcare system in tatters, already fighting a coronavirus outbreak which has seen 87 deaths and more than 7,100 cases since February.

Beirut’s hospitals - which long attracted patients from around the region - have also been wrestling with the country’s financial meltdown since late last year.

There are shortages in everything from dialysis equipment to syringes, with the state owing hospitals millions of dollars in arrears.

Now with hospitals turned into trauma centres and coronavirus cases still rising, some healthcare workers are asking: how can the system cope?

“THE KNOCKOUT”

On the night of the blast, hospitals used two months’ worth of supplies, said Rona Halabi, spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The explosion, which injured more than 6,000 people, knocked out three hospitals in Beirut and damaged 12 other facilities. Days later, pressure piled on thanks to hundreds of injuries at protests against Lebanon’s leaders.

“These times are unparalleled to say the least,” Halabi said, warning that the need for mental health care was also rising after scores of people suffered trauma.

“I have seen many explosions and a war. But I’ve never seen what I saw on August 4,” said Khalaf, who has worked at St. George for 28 years.

The blast killed four nurses there. A few floors above, a doctor had delivered a baby as the building shook.

The next day, Khalaf and her friends returned to help clear rubble from the blast, which officials blamed on explosive material stored in unsafe conditions at the port.

When the shockwaves hit Naji Abi Rached’s hospital all 17 elevators crashed. Staff had to carry some patients down eight flights of stairs. They could not evacuate patients in the COVID-19 ward.

Abi Rached, medical director at the nonprofit Lebanese Hospital Geitaoui, said the virus could now spread faster. With nearly a quarter of a million people homeless, the risk has grown. Lebanon recorded on Tuesday 300 new infections and seven deaths.

“This blast dealt the final blow, the knockout,” he said.

Still, a week later, with the help of volunteers, the ER was running again. The dialysis center also opened, although with shattered windows.

For Beatrice Karam, a nephrologist who returned to Beirut after living abroad, the past week killed any hope for stability. Many of her friends felt the same, she said, warning of a looming exodus of doctors.

“It’s like there was a blast inside of me too. And I had no feelings anymore, and I just want to leave.”

Reporting by Ellen Francis; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Beirut explosion: 2013 legal note confirms tanker offloaded ammonium nitrate in port

The abandoned Moldovan-flagged Rhosus tanker pictured in October 2013. (Photo credit: Kozanitis Leonardos via Marrine Traffic)

Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English Thursday 06 August 2020

Explosive material that may have been the cause of the devastating blast in Beirut on Tuesday had been stored in the port since 2013 after a tanker was impounded there, according to a verified legal note circulating online.

Authorities have pointed to large quantities of the highly explosive ammonium nitrate as the cause of the massive blast that killed over 135 people and injured thousands in Lebanon's capital on Tuesday, but observers have asked where this material came from and why it was being stored in such large quantities so close to densely populated central Beirut.

Read more: Blame game for Beirut blasts begins among Lebanon officials

Based on a verified legal note from a Lebanese law firm, one theory has emerged that the blast was caused by 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was offloaded by a Moldovan-flagged tanker in 2013 and had been kept in the port ever since.

Lebanese law firm Baroudi & Associates drafted the note after issuing three arrest orders against the Rhosus tanker, which was impounded by Lebanese authorities in November 2013 and subsequently offloaded the ammonium nitrate in Beirut port.

The letter, dated sometime in 2015 and posted online by two lawyers from the firm acting on behalf of “various creditors,” detailed what happened to the Rhosus after its Ukrainian crew and Russian owner abandoned the vessel off Beirut.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Satellite images released the day after a devastating explosion erupted at #Beirut port show a portion of the land - where a warehouse that housed 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded - carved out due to the sheer force of the blast.https://t.co/8KYzX25cnr pic.twitter.com/U8lQjBOIUA— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 6, 2020

“On 23/9/2013, m/v Rhosus, flying the Moldovian flag, sailed from BatumiPort, Georgia heading to Biera in Mozambique carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate in bulk. En route, the vessel faced technical problems forcing the Master to enter Beirut Port. Upon inspection of the vessel by Port State Control, the vessel was forbidden from sailing. Most crew except the Master and four crew members were repatriated and shortly afterwards the vessel was abandoned by her owners after charterers and cargo concern lost interest in the cargo. The vessel quickly ran out of stores, bunker and provisions,” read the legal note published by the lawyers identified as Charbel Dagher and Christine Maksoud.

The legal note in question has been verified by Al Arabiya English after its initial publication in a newsletter published in October 2015 by ShipArrested.com, a website that identifies itself as an extensive network that facilitates the fast and efficient arrest or release of ships with coverage in over 1,000 ports around the globe.




Legal note from Lebanese law firm Baroudi & Associates acting on behalf of “various creditors” against the Rhosus vessel. (Photo via ShipArrested.com)

“Various creditors came forward with claims against her. Our firm acting on instruction of these creditors obtained three arrest orders against the vessel. Efforts to get in touch with the owners, charterers and cargo owners to obtain payment failed,” both Dagher and Maksoud said in their legal note after the ship was impounded by authorities.

A heatmap of the “Rhosus” cargo vessel that reportedly offloaded the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at Beirut Port in 2013 showed its past routes across the several countries in the Mediterranean prior to its abandonment in the Lebanese capital a year later, according to ship tracking service Marine Traffic.


Lots of talk about the Rhosus, its movements in 2013 and 2014, and its possible involvement in yesterday's explosion in #Beirut. We've put together a heat map of the vessel’s movements during that time period.#BeirutExplosion pic.twitter.com/zzeDKRRcwY— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) August 5, 2020

According to the legal note, both Lebanese lawyers Dagher and Maksoud attested that Beirut port authorities had discharged the cargo of ammonium nitrate onto the port's warehouses.

“The vessel and cargo remain to date in port awaiting auctioning and/or proper disposal,” Dagher and Maksoud wrote in the conclusion of the letter released in 2015.

Al Arabiya English could not independently verify whether the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that was offloaded by the Rhosus in 2013 or 2014 was behind the devastating explosions on Tuesday at Beirut port from hanger 12.




Map shows the last recorded location of the Rhosus in 2014 located opposite the hanger which exploded in Beirut port on Tuesday. (Photo via GPS Coorindates)

According to information provided by Marine Traffic, the last recorded location of the Rhosus was located at Mediterranean at position 33° 54' 18.036" N, 35° 30' 55.512" E as more than six years ago on August 7, 2014. The GPS coordinates placed the Rhosus docked exactly opposite the hanger which exploded on Tuesday at Beirut port.

While the Rhosus sailed under the Moldovan flag, it was actually owned by a Russian man named by Igor Grechushkin and was manned by a crew of both Russians and Ukrainians. According to an investigation by the Globe and Mail newspaper, Grechushkin’s known address was placed in Cyprus. The Siberian Times, Grechushkin still lives in Limassol, Cyprus, with the newspaper posting reportedly exclusive images of him.


Colonel who died suspiciously had asked for removing ammonium nitrate: Lebanese media

Former Chief of the drug control division at the Lebanese Customs Colonel Joseph Skaf (L), and signed 2014 document (R) warning of the danger of the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate at the Port of Beirut. (Al Arabiya)

Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English Friday 07 August 2020

A Lebanese official who died under suspicious circumstances in 2017 had called for the removal of the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate which arrived at the Port of Beirut in 2013, according to a 2014 document shared by Lebanese media on Thursday.

Colonel Joseph Skaf, Chief of the drug control division at the Lebanese Customs, wrote at the time: “We inform you that this division received information about the presence of the Rhosus ship at the Port of Beirut. It is loaded with ammonium nitrate, which is used in explosives, is highly dangerous and constitutes a threat to public safety.”

He asked the authorities to move the ship away from the port’s docks and to place it under supervision, according to the document.

Skaf died in 2017, but the cause of death wasn’t determined definitively as there were two conflicting autopsy reports.

Major Lebanese newspaper an-Nahar reported at the time: “Did the retired Colonel Joseph Skaf’s foot slip or was he thrown off a height of three meters? A question which remains unresolved, especially after the two contradictory forensic reports commissioned by the Public Prosecution from two medical examiners,” citing a source in Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF).

The ISF source said at the time: “One of the two reports rules the incident an accident, and the other confirms that it was deliberate due to finding bruises on the deceased’s head.”

The ammonium nitrate stockpile at Port of Beirut exploded on Tuesday, killing at least 137 people and injuring more than 5,000.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said the explosion was due to the stockpile being stored at the port for years without safety measure

For Lebanese, recovery too heavy to bear a month after blast

By SARAH EL DEEB 

1 of 16

This Aug. 29, 2020 photo shows destroyed buildings near the scene of last month's massive explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. A month after the giant explosion that killed and injured thousands and destroyed homes across the Lebanese capital, Beirut is still a wounded, grieving city struggling to come to grips with the calamity that struck abruptly on Aug.4. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT (AP) — A month after Beirut’s devastating explosion, Ghassan Toubaji still sits under a gaping hole in his ceiling — he can look up through the dangling plaster, wires and metal struts and the broken brick roof and see a bit of sky.

The 74-year-old survived the Aug. 4 blast with bruises, but his fall from its impact worsened his heart and blood circulation diseases. Between that and Lebanon’s crumbled economy, he can’t go back to work.

He used the last of the dollars his wife had been hoarding — a precious commodity as the local currency’s value evaporates — to fix the windows shattered by the explosion.

Teams of volunteers, a symbol of the help-each-other spirit that’s grown up from the failures of Lebanon’s corrupt political class, came by his apartment and assessed the damage. They put plastic on the windows and promised glass for free eventually. Four weeks later they hadn’t come back.

With a sweet patient smile, he said he appreciated how well meaning the young volunteers were. But he couldn’t wait — with humidity reaching 80% some days and the summer sun directed all day into his apartment, he had to do something.

“Our house is hot as hell,” he said, sitting in baggy shorts and a tank top as he watched the news in the room with the hole overhead.

Lebanese families are still struggling with rebuilding in the wake of the massive explosion centered at Beirut’s port. Many, already unable to make ends meet because of the country’s economic meltdown, now can’t bear costs of making homes livable. Frustration is high, with the state almost nowhere to be seen and promised international help slow in coming.

With winter and the rainy season only weeks away, aid groups are concerned they may not have time or resources for the mammoth job of repairing and rebuilding.

Around 200,000 housing units, approximately 40,000 buildings, were damaged in the blast, 3,000 of them so severely they are currently uninhabitable, according to U.N. estimates.

The loss of homes is just one of the indignities from the explosion, the result of nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored and rotting ammonium nitrates igniting at the port. The blast, one of the strongest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, killed more than 190 and injured thousands.

A month later, Beirut is still a wounded, grieving city struggling with the calamity that abruptly altered so many lives. Tall buildings still face the port with blown-up facades. Hundreds-year old stone buildings have gaping holes and missing balconies. Features of small streets parallel to the port have been totally erased. Residents walk around with patched up eyes, bandaged arms or on crutches.

Social media are still awash with people sharing their stories and videos and recounting their persisting trauma. Pictures of the dead are plastered in neighborhoods. “He is a victim, not a martyr,” read one poster, rebuffing authorities’ attempts to give the dead that esteemed label of self-sacrifice for a cause, seen as a way to water down their own responsibility.

The United Nations appealed for $344.5 million in emergency funds to last until November, and a donor conference was co-hosted by France and the U.N. days after the blast. But so far only 16.3% of the funds have been received.

Of the total pledges, $84.5 million is meant for securing and repairing shelter, but only $1.9 million has been dispersed, said Elena Dikomitis, advocacy adviser for Norwegian Refugees Council for Lebanon.

Aid groups worry the funds are not robust enough.

“The cold and rain could start as early as October,” she said. “For sure, tens of thousands of houses can’t be repaired in time. That we know for sure, even with all the ongoing efforts.”

The NRC is working in two of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, Karantina and Mar Mikhail. It is targeting 12,400 people for help with shelter and 16,800 for water, sanitation and hygiene interventions before March 2021, she said.

Lebanon already has highly vulnerable populations that need help for shelter in winter, including more than 1 million Syrian refugees, the majority of whom live in substandard conditions and now risk being overlooked. “On top of those people ... you also now have all the new homeless of Beirut,” Dikomitis said.

The international community, aware of public anger in Lebanon over rampant corruption, has said it would funnel money away from government institutions and work only through international organizations and the U.N.

Many Beirutis say they are sick of hearing about aid on the way, as they struggle to stay above water in the financial crisis.

The currency has crashed in value to the dollar, and banks locked down dollar accounts to prevent capital flight. Prices have skyrocketed, and imports are limited in a country that imports nearly everything. Unable to access their money, even the most able are struggling to secure materials for repairs.

“Nobody has helped us with even a nail,” said Robert Hajj, owner of a scooter center wrecked in the blast. “Each day’s delay is deteriorating our companies ... Our money is blocked in the banks.”

“They made us give up,” he said.

With little to no safety net, elderly like Toubaji are hit hard.

He has no pension, no social or medical insurance, so he and his wife, both over 70, had to keep working. Toubaji worked charging fees from people to get papers signed for them at the Finance Ministry, wading through the bureaucracy.

He was forced to stay home by the slump and the ensuing nationwide protests that began in October. His wife, a seamstress, is also virtually out of work.

They have been eating away at the 30 million Lebanese pounds in their bank account. Overnight in the financial crisis, their savings’ value dropped from $20,000 to just above $3,000. His wife had kept some dollars at home, away from the banks, but that went into fixing their windows.

“You know how much the meter of glass costs? $160,” Toubaji said.

If the ceiling is not fixed, rain will come in. Or worse — a few days ago brick from a neighbor’s damaged house hit his roof and knocked a chunk more of the broken ceiling down onto a sofa. His home’s main wooden door also remains damaged, its splintered shards glued back in place.

“I don’t have a leader that I follow to chase and secure money,” Toubaji said, referring to Lebanon’s sectarian-based patronage system that fills the place of the absent state.

When the blast happened, Toubaji fell on his face, and shattered glass covered his back. He now walks slowly, worried his knees cannot keep him up straight.

He said Lebanon, too, had fallen because of violence and conflict before and every time, it managed to stand up “and good people came to help.”

This time, he is not so sure.

Politicians “have robbed the country and the banks are broke. Who would help the country get up on its feet this time?”