Lebanon’s executive cabinet agreed to place under house arrest every Beirut port official responsible for storing confiscated items Wednesday in response to a massive blast in the port that has killed at least 100 and left thousands homeless.
A stockpile of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly flammable substance, caused the explosion, according to Prime Minister Hassan Diab. Diab said authorities confiscated the material in 2013 and left it unsecured in the port, a highly trafficked area, for six years.
Lebanese authorities have vowed to bring those responsible for the explosion and the thousands of injured to justice. They have not indicated that the explosion was a deliberate act of terrorism or that anything intentional triggered it. Some reports have suggested that construction work near the site may have detonated the nitrate.
The officials affected by the house arrest order, according to Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper, are all those “who oversaw storage and guarding since 2014.” Multiple international media outlets corroborated the move but cited anonymous sources, in addition to Daily Star.
The official Twitter account of the president of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, confirmed the arrests Wednesday.
“In light of the declared state of emergency, the National Defense Law, and other laws, the Supreme Military Authority is required to impose house arrest on anyone who manages the affairs of storing ammonium nitrate … from June 2014 until the date of the explosion,” Aoun wrote.
Aoun also announced efforts to offer “immediate compensation” to the affected, which include hundreds of thousands of people. The explosion devastated multiple neighborhoods of the national capital.
“What happened today will not fly by without accountability. All those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price,” Diab said in a national address on Tuesday. “This is a promise I make to martyrs and injured. This is a national commitment.”
The explosion took place in the evening hours of Tuesday, decimating much of the Beirut port and key facilities like grain storage warehouses. Witnesses said they felt the power of the explosion nearly 200 miles away. Lebanon’s Red Cross said on Wednesday that it had documented at least 100 deaths and 4,000 injuries, but that many were likely trapped in rubble, hurt beyond recognition closer to the blast, or injured but unable to reach medical aid.
Lebanese authorities have not at press time identified a cause for the ammonium nitrate exploding. Health Minister Hassan Hamad initially claimed that the ammonium nitrate was a fireworks cache, though later public security officials clarified that the explosives detonated were confiscated at the port.
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