Three months following the Beirut tragedy, foreign parties are calling for a transparent international investigation

A picture of the fallen firefighters and female paramedic in Beirut, oct 2020, photo credit: Al Jazeera

Brief Overview

Three months ago, ten emergency workers were asked by the police to respond to a large fire at the Beirut Dock at 5.55pm. However, they were not informed of the large quantities of ammonium nitrate stored at the port, despite several senior Lebanese officials knowing of its existence. At 6.07 pm, the warehouse storing the chemicals exploded, killing the firefighters and the paramedic, with 190 people in the city killed in all.

In a desperate attempt to honor their fallen comrades, members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) sought the help of Amnesty International, the famous human rights watchdog, to ask the UK government to press for a full international investigation into the devastating explosion.

Amnesty and the FBU truly believe that local Lebanese authorities have no intention of conducting an effective, transparent and impartial investigation into the explosion - denying victims their right to truth, justice and remedy, including the families of the firefighters who died doing their jobs at the port. Unfortunately, things remain gloomy as certain leakages from the French Investigation indicate that it too is inconclusive and does not have the needed answers. 

Communication and Public Relations Department