China News Service, August 13th. According to Agence France-Presse, on the 12th local time, a Lebanese judicial official stated that the Lebanese judicial department will question several ministers about the bombing at the port of Beirut, the capital.
A violent explosion occurred in the port area of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on the evening of August 4, causing thousands of casualties. The explosion also left about 300,000 people homeless. Regarding the cause of the accident, it was previously reported that about 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the port area may have caused the explosion.
The picture shows a man sitting next to the ruins of a destroyed building in the Gemmayzeh neighborhood on August 12, making a phone call.
After the explosion, people were angry and incredulous that so many potentially explosive materials were stored in a warehouse for six years without any safety measures and were close to the city center.
An Agence France-Presse investigation found that until the day before the explosion, officials had exchanged warnings about the cargo, but did not take any action, although experts feared that it might cause a large-scale fire.
On the 12th, a Lebanese judicial official said that the prosecution will question several ministers and former ministers about the disaster. The official, who requested anonymity, said that the inquiry will begin with former public works minister Ghazi al-Aridi.
The official explained that if the ministers in question are found to be dereliction of duty or negligence, the judicial department will have to declare that they have no right to prosecute them. After that, the chief prosecutor must transfer their documents and related evidence to the Parliament, because the jurisdiction belongs to a special committee responsible for prosecuting the minister and the president.
The official said that the current Minister of Public Works will also be questioned in the next few days.
On the same day, emergency rescuers were still searching the explosion site. Survivors and volunteers are still cleaning the streets littered with rubble and broken glass. The World Health Organization estimates that more than half of Beirut’s hospitals are “not functioning properly”.
Lebanese Prime Minister Diab has announced the government's collective resignation on the 10th in response to the people's calls for change.