Six years after Beirut port blast, victims’ families say ‘wound has not healed’

BEIRUT: Families of victims of the Beirut port explosion gathered on Tuesday demanding answers and accountability on the sixth anniversary of the catastrophe, in a country long plagued by official impunity.
“Until now, we haven’t gotten justice. There has been no accountability and nobody has been arrested,” said Hiyam Al-Bikai from a gathering at the port to commemorate victims of the disaster, including her son Ahmad.
“This is an extremely painful anniversary. Our pain has not stopped and our wound has not healed,” she told AFP.
The massive explosion on August 4, 2020 killed more than 220 people, injured more than 6,500 and laid waste to swathes of the capital.
Lebanese authorities have said the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Nobody has yet been held accountable.
“We are waiting for the indictment in order to know how our children died, who brought the nitrate, who stored it, who set off the blast... We want them to be held to account,” Bikai said.
“We want the full indictment, without any cover for anyone,” she added.
In March, a judicial official told AFP that judge Tarek Bitar had completed his probe involving some 70 defendants, including current and former politicians, security and military officials and civil servants.
He referred the case to the public prosecutor who was to study it, present his opinion and then refer it back to Bitar to issue the indictment.
The case is still with the public prosecutor, and nobody is in custody in Lebanon over it.
‘Great crime’
Justice Minister Adel Nassar told AFP from Tuesday’s commemoration that the prosecutor was preparing his response.
“We expect that within a period of 60 to 90 days, he will refer the case back to the investigating judge, who will then issue the indictment act,” Nassar said.
The move would pave the way for a trial to begin.
“It is the right of the victims, and of the Lebanese people too, in the face of a crime of this magnitude, for the truth to come out and justice to be served,” Nassar said.
On Monday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the issuing of the indictment was “a necessity that can no longer be delayed.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed “no cover for any official, no matter their position.”
The case had been bogged down by political and legal wrangling after Iran-backed Hezbollah led a campaign demanding Bitar’s removal and dozens of lawsuits also sought to remove him from the case.
But Bitar resumed his investigations last year as Lebanon’s balance of power shifted and Aoun and Salam took office following a 2023-2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah which weakened the group.
Several legal impediments to Bitar’s work have also since been removed, including the lifting of a travel ban against him.
Victims’ families have not given up on their demand for justice.
“We are here today because it’s in this place that the great crime took place,” said William Noun, 32, whose brother Joe was among the firefighters sent to their deaths when the blaze erupted at the port warehouse.
“I spent 10 days here, it was hell, until we found something of my brother’s remains,” he said.
“We’re now at the end of the investigation … and are awaiting the indictment” to know the truth, he added.