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Paurush Omar

Beirut mega-blast: Two years down the line Lebanon hits new lows

Photo taken on August 04, 2020, shows the scene of an explosion at the port in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Crisis-hit Lebanon marks two years Thursday since a massive explosion ripped through Beirut, with victims' relatives planning protest marches as they keep demanding truth and justice. (AFP)

Amid political interference the investigation into the blasts has been stalled and no state official has yet been held accountable over the tragedy. This has led some rights defenders and victims' families to demand an international probe.

Many burnt silos at the site of blast have collapsed and experts have warned that more are dangerously close to coming down. These crumbling silos present the grim symbol of the two year old disaster.

Tatiana Hasrouty, a victim of the tragedy, who lost her father in the blast while talking to AFP said, "I hope that seeing the silos fall will give people the will to fight for justice, to battle with us,"

Politicians "are doing everything in their power to stop the investigation" into the explosion, she said.

The blasts that shook the nation at the coast of Mediterranean Sea has failed to recover from the nightmarish moment mired in its worst-ever economic crisis marked by blackouts, runaway inflation and widespread despair.

The wreckage at the site of the blast still portray the dismal remnants of the blast with smell of the smoke wafting from the silos where fermenting grain is smouldering in the blistering summer heat. the protesters in three separate marches starting from 1200 GMT will converge at the port, witnessing this grim scene.

Second anniversary of the 'nightmare'

The war-like explosion two years ago was felt as far away as Israel and Cyprus and sowed the kind of devastation normally caused by disasters. It further scarred the crisis-tested population and accelerated a massive exodus.

Even as the people endure shortages of fuel, medicine and clean water, Lebanon's ruling class, accused of misrule, graft and gross negligence, has however clung firmly to power.

Hasrouty said "This ruling class is killing us every day…If we did not die in the blast, we are dying of hunger, from a lack of basic human rights."

The irony of the blasts is such that the districts are left to be illuminated by the fires in the silos while there are power cuts that last more than 23 hours.

Lara Khatchikian, 51, whose apartment was badly hit two years ago, has watched the blazes, while talking with AFP called the sight "a nightmare".

"I have felt fear, we couldn't sleep," she said. "It takes superhuman strength to live when you are constantly reminded of the blast."

Still no sight of justice

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday reiterated his call for an 'impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the explosion' (REUTERS)

In April the government ordered the silos' demolition, but this has been suspended, partially because of objections from victims' relatives who want them preserved as a memorial.

French civil engineer Emmanuel Durand, who monitors the silos with sensors, has warned that he expected four more towers to collapse Thursday.

Meanwhile, the probe in the matter is also at risk of falling apart like the crumbling silos, as officials close to the powerful Hezbollah movement have curtailed the work of the lead investigator Tarek Bitar with a series of lawsuits.

A judicial official close to the investigations said judge Bitar's work had been paused since December 23.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party has repeatedly accused Bitar of bias, on Thursday condemned what it described as a two-year "intense political and media campaign, which contained false accusations" against it, and called for a "fair" investigation.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday reiterated his call for an "impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the explosion".

UN experts and groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had earlier relaunched an appeal to the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission.

The rights groups jointly declared that "it is now, more than ever, clear that the domestic investigation cannot deliver justice".

Aya Majzoub of HRW said that an international investigation "may be the only hope for the millions of Lebanese people... to get the answers they deserve".

With inputs from wire agencies.

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