Lebanon has ordered the demolition of grain silos in the port of Beirut, which are in danger of collapsing more than a year and a half after the devastating blast destroyed the site, despite objections from relatives of the drama victims who want the site to be a memorial.
The government “has instructed the Development and Reconstruction Council to oversee the destruction of the grain silos,” Information Minister Ziad Makari told the cabinet, without specifying a date for the demolition.
The decision to destroy the silos, taken in March, is based on a technical report submitted by a local engineering consulting firm.
According to Makari, the report suggests that the silos are in danger of “collapsing in a few weeks” and therefore may pose a “danger”.
In April 2021, the Swiss company Amann Engineering, which scanned the silos with a laser after the explosion, had already recommended their destruction stating that they were in danger of collapsing.
“The slope is at a rate of 2 millimeters a day, which is high,” he said in a report, ringing the alarm bell.
The explosion – on August 4, 2020 – of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, stored years ago in the port “without precautionary measures”, as the authorities themselves admitted, had killed more than 200 people and destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital.
The grain silos, 48 meters high and with a storage capacity of over 100,000 tons, were severely damaged by the explosion and partially collapsed.
Calling the government’s decision “unfair”, a group of relatives of the victims called for a demonstration on Thursday afternoon near the port. In March, this collective had demanded the preservation of the silos that, according to her, testify to the “massacre”.
According to Makari, the government has asked the Ministries of Culture and Interior to “erect (in the port) a monument dedicated to the witnesses” of the explosion.
The investigation into the explosion has been suspended for months. Accused of criminal negligence, authorities are accused by the victims’ families and NGOs of “torpedoing” the investigation to avoid accusations.
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