Large parts of Beirut were torn apart by the massive explosion on August 4 last year.

Rescue workers frantically cleared among the landslides in search of survivors before a black conclusion was clear: over 200 dead and several thousand injured.

The accident was caused by the enormous amounts of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a room in the port for almost six years, without sufficient protection.

Despite the fact that it has now been a year since the disaster, no one has yet been held accountable and the investigation work is slow.

Attempts to prosecute responsible politicians and other high-ranking people have failed and the investigation has been postponed to the future.

No response from the Lebanese inquiry

How it came about that the ammonium nitrate was stored in the port for such a long time - and why the fire that caused the substance to explode started - are questions that the Lebanese investigation has not answered to date.

However, an independent study by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) states that several attempts to inform those responsible about the dangerous substances had been made before the explosion.

The evidence gathered by HRW also shows that government officials were aware of the deadly risks posed by the storage of ammonium nitrate, but that they kept quiet about it.

According to the report, very high-ranking politicians also knew about the risks, including President Michel Aoun, the then Prime Minister Hassan Diab and several ministers in the responsible ministries.

The nominees failed to take the necessary measures to protect the public, writes HRW in its report entitled "They killed us from the inside" which is published today.

Known corruption in the port

The report shows how the ammonium nitrate was stored in the hangar side by side with kerosene and fireworks.

The report's footage shows how partially torn and opened sacks with the highly explosive substance are carelessly thrown in piles.

The port of Beirut - popularly known as "Ali Baba and the Cave of the 40 robbers" - is permeated by corruption, neglect and mismanagement, writes HRW.

Riad Kobeissi, an investigative journalist who has been investigating corruption in the port for a decade, states in the report that the port does not fill the state's coffers, but rather is to "fill the mafia's pockets".