Lebanon places Beirut port officials under house arrest during blast investigation

(Image credit: Daniel Carde/Getty Images)

last updated 5 August 2020

Officials in Beirut have launched an investigation into the Tuesday explosion that killed 100 people and wounded thousands more, and the probe could leave hundreds of thousands without a home for a month, The Associated Press reports.

The blast is not being considered an attack, but Lebanese officials do believe people bear responsibility for mismanaging and neglecting 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a Beirut port warehouse since 2013 that likely caused the explosion. Lebanese customs officials reportedly tried for years to get rid of the explosive material and warned of its dangers, but were unsuccessful.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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