Lebanese President Michel Aoun learned of the huge stockpiles of explosives in the port of Beirut several weeks before the explosion. This on Saturday, August 8, writes The Sun.
According to the newspaper, the leader became aware of the storage of ammonium nitrate on July 20. However, Aoun claims that he gave the order to immediately deal with this problem, which was not followed.
“There are officials who must fulfill their duties, and they were all informed,” the head of state said.
The chemicals have been in storage since 2013 after being removed from a cargo ship. It was revealed that officials raised the alarm about the warehouse with chemicals at least 10 times in the past seven years, warning that the stock could “blow up the whole of Beirut.”
Aoun came to power in 2016 and blames his predecessors for what happened.
On the eve it became known that the perpetrators of the explosion, which took place in the Lebanese capital, will be established by a military tribunal.
A powerful explosion occurred in the port of the Lebanese capital Beirut on 4 August. As a result of the incident, more than 150 people were killed, and more than 5 thousand people were injured.
The explosion was attributed to the ignition of 2.7 tons of ammonium nitrate during welding. The facades of dozens of buildings were destroyed and damaged.
The governor of the city, Marwan Abboud, estimated the damage from the incident at $ 3-5 billion.
On August 6, EMERCOM employees arrived in Beirut to help combat the consequences of the emergency and deploy mobile hospitals.