Authorities Aware that Ammonium Nitrate Stored at Beirut Port is Dangerous

The head of the Lebanese customs service, Badri Daher, has announced that the Lebanese judicial system has been informed six times that the ammonium nitrate stored at the Beirut port poses a danger. This information comes from alarabiya.net.

According to the head of the customs service, employees had requested permission for re-export, but they never received it.

Earlier, during an extraordinary meeting of Lebanon's Higher Council for Defense, Prime Minister Hassan Diab stated that those responsible for the disaster in Beirut would be held strictly accountable. “It is absolutely unacceptable that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stored in the port for six years without any preventive measures taken by the port authorities,” Diab said.

The capital of Lebanon is trying to recover from the devastating explosion that occurred on the evening of August 4. The Lebanese Minister of Health has reported a significant number of injuries, with current estimates around 4,000. The death toll has reached 100, including five Armenians.

“Hospitals are overwhelmed, and those who do not require surgical intervention should be transferred to hotels in downtown Beirut,” the minister noted.

The shockwave from the explosion was so powerful that no part of the capital was spared from destruction; even neighboring Jordan felt tremors with a magnitude of 4.5.

Following the devastating explosion on the evening of August 4, Beirut has been declared a disaster zone, and a state of emergency has been imposed in the city for two weeks, from August 4 to August 18.

The Armenian community structures also suffered significant damage due to the explosion in Beirut. “The doors, windows, and chandeliers of the Mother Cathedral of Antelias, the Catholicosate, and the Armenian studies and educational centers, as well as the 'Cilicia' Museum have been damaged,” reads a statement from the Catholicosate.