A Lebanese judge has allegedly charged the country's caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab as well as three former ministers with negligence over the devastating Beirut blast that killed 200 people, injured more than 5,000, and ravaged the capital of Lebanon on 4 August, a source told Sputnik.
The judge also purportedly charged former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khali, and ex-Public Works Ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Youssef Finianos.
"The charges came after verifying that they had received letters warning of the dangers of storing ammonium nitrate in the port and not taken the necessary measures in this regard", the source told Sputnik.
Hassan Diab said he was surprised by the judge's decision and noted that his conscience is clear.
The disastrous explosion has dealt a huge blow to Lebanon, as the blast damaged numerous buildings, leaving as many as 300,000 people homeless and had a drastic effect on the capital's healthcare. Half of Beirut's medical facilities became non-functional following the blast. Overall, the damages from the explosion were valued at $15 billion.
Authorities said the tragedy was caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate - a chemical compound used in agriculture as a fertiliser and also in explosives – that was stored unsafely at the Beirut port. A wave of massive protests swept Lebanon when it became known that the chemical compound had been stored in the port since 2013, when it was confiscated from a ship.
The then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab refused to take responsibility for the blast and blamed it on his predecessors. Documents obtained by Reuters, however, showed that the politician was informed by security officials that the chemical compound at the port was highly dangerous and could inflict enormous damage on the capital, if it exploded.
