#years #Beirut #megablast #Lebanon #hitting #lows
Crisis-stricken Lebanon has passed two years on Thursday since a massive blast rocked Beirut. Victims’ families plan protest marches as they continue to demand truth and justice.
The explosion of indiscriminately stored ammonium nitrate off port, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, killed more than 200 people, injured thousands more and decimated much of the capital.
However, an investigation into the cause has stalled due to political interference, and no state official has yet been held accountable for the August 4, 2020 tragedy.
Several badly damaged grain elevators, which have become a somber symbol of the disaster, collapsed last week and others are dangerously close to collapsing, experts warn.
“I hope that seeing the silos gives people the will to fight for justice, to fight with us,” said Tatiana Hasrouty, who lost her father in the blast.
The policy is “doing everything in its power to stop the investigation” into the fertilizer explosion, she said.
The mega-blast was a nightmarish moment in Lebanon’s chaotic history, mired in its worst-ever economic crisis, marked by power outages, runaway inflation and widespread despair.
As protesters converge on the port later in three separate marches starting at 1200 GMT on Thursday, they will smell the smoke billowing from the silos where fermenting grain smolders in the blistering summer heat.
– ‘A nightmare’ –
The massive blast two years ago was felt as far away as Cyprus, wreaking havoc normally caused by wars and natural disasters.
It further terrified the crisis-stricken populace and hastened a massive exodus reminiscent of the flight during the 1975-1990 civil war.
However, Lebanon’s ruling class, accused of mismanagement, bribery and gross negligence, has clung tight to power even as the people suffer from shortages of fuel, medicine and clean water.
“This ruling class is killing us every day,” Hasrouty said. “If we didn’t die in the blast, we will die of starvation, of a lack of basic human rights.”
Power outages last up to 23 hours a day, streets are dark at night and traffic lights are out of order, leaving some neighborhoods lit mainly by the silo fires.
Lara Khatchikian, 51, whose home was badly hit two years ago, has watched the blaze and described the sight as a “nightmare”.
“My neighbors and I were stressed out all the time,” she said. “I felt scared, we couldn’t sleep. It takes superhuman strength to live with constant reminders of the explosion.”
– no justice –
The government ordered the demolition of the silos in April – but this was put on hold, in part because of objections from victims’ families, who want to preserve them as a memorial.
French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who oversees the silos, has warned the risk of another partial collapse “has never been higher” and could come “at any time”.
Meanwhile, the investigation is also in danger of falling apart as officials have curtailed lead investigator Tarek Bitar’s work with a series of lawsuits.
A justice official close to the investigation said Judge Bitar’s work had been suspended since December 23.
The families of the victims are divided, with some accusing Bitar of being biased, while others see him as their only hope.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups on Wednesday renewed an appeal for the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission.
They jointly declared that “it is clear now more than ever that the domestic investigation cannot bring about justice”.
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