Lebanese Government Orders House Arrest of Beirut Port Officials

The Lebanese government demanded on Wednesday the house arrest of anyone involved in the storage of tons of nitrate d’ammonium at the origin of a deadly explosion in the port of Beirut the day before.

We deplore at least 113 dead after this double explosion which devastated a significant part of the city.

Addressing the supreme military power in charge of security matters during the state of emergency, the government “requests the house arrest of any person involved in the storage of ammonium” since the arrival of the cargo in Beirut in 2014 until the explosion on Tuesday, announced at a press conference the Minister of Information, Manal Abdel Samad, without however naming these officials or their number or providing more details.

According to Badri Daher, customs could not directly intervene because ammonium nitrate was stored in a hangar at the port, and therefore under the direction of the port. “This department is under the supervision of the Ministry of Works,” he said.

According to Reuters information, the Rhosus freighter, flying the Moldovan flag, had called in Beirut in September 2013 with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate on board. After an inspection, it was forbidden to leave, and the freighter was then abandoned by its owners. Its contents were unloaded in a hangar.