The Lebanese military discovered more than 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near Beirut's port on Thursday, a find that's a chilling reminder of the devastating Aug. 4 explosion that left thousands of casualties and caused massive destruction.
According to a military communique, army experts were called in for an inspection and found 4.35 tons of the dangerous chemical in four containers stored near the entrance to the port.
It said the experts were “dealing with the material," an apparent reference that it was being destroyed.
There were no details on the origin of the chemicals or their owner.
The find comes almost exactly a month after 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut’s port for six years detonated, wreaking death and destruction. Along with 191 people killed, more than 6,000 were injured and entire neighborhoods were devastated.
The blast left nearly 300,000 people homeless and caused damage worth billions of dollars.
Days after the Aug. 4 blast, French and Italian chemical experts working amid the remains of the port identified more than 20 containers carrying dangerous chemicals. The army later said that these containers were moved and stored safely in locations away from the port.
French experts as well as the FBI have taken part in the investigation into the Aug. 4 blast, at the request of Lebanese authorities. Their findings have yet to be released.
So far, authorities have detained 25 people over the explosion, most of them port and customs officials.
Earlier on Thursday, President Michel Aoun ordered repairs to be made to old refueling infrastructure at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport and called for an investigation into a report that thousands of litres of fuel had leaked from the system.
Airport head Fadi el-Hassan told a news conference that a leak of 84,000 liters of fuel had occurred in March 2019 and repairs were completed in two months. He said international investigators had described the repairs as "satisfactory".
News of the leak added to concerns about public safety. "No explosion is awaiting us," Hassan told the news conference.
