On the second anniversary of the devastating explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut, further parts of the symbolic grain silos collapsed there. According to eyewitnesses, a white cloud of dust rose above the port today. Despite the collapse, dozens of families of victims of the blast two years ago gathered there. The silos had already partially collapsed on Sunday after a fire broke out there.
Some of the relatives wept, others shouted, “We want justice for our children.” The crowd carried empty coffins to commemorate the more than 190 people who died in the blast two years ago. Others called for the causes, which have not yet been clarified, to be worked up. A sign said it was an “open wound.”
The August 2020 explosion in the port of Beirut killed over 190 people and injured around 6,000 others. The port and large parts of the adjacent residential areas were destroyed. Large quantities of the highly explosive chemical ammonium nitrate, which had previously been stored in the port for years without protective measures, detonated. To this day, authorities have not explained exactly how the substance got into the port.