BEIRUT,
Lebanon
The head of Lebanon's Customs Authority Badri Daher has said he repeatedly warned the country's judiciary about dangerous substances stored at Beirut's port.
Daher said he sent six memos to
judiciary officials warning that the substances posed a danger to the public,
according to Lebanon’s LBC channel.
“Daher revealed that he asked to
re-export these materials, but this matter did not happen," LBC reported.
LBC did not report the dates on
which the memos were sent.
The explosion is thought to have
been caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years
without safety measures at the port, according to Lebanese President Michel
Aoun.
Aoun has promised a transparent
investigation into the causes of Tuesday’s explosion and vowed that those
responsible will be held accountable and punished, amid mounting public anger
over Tuesday's disaster.
Meanwhile, at
least 300,000 people have been displaced from their homes by Tuesday's
devastating explosion, Beirut's governor Marwan Abboud said in an interview
with Jordan's state-owned channel Al Mamlaka.
Images and videos from the
immediate aftermath of the blast show homes destroyed and covered with
shattered glass.
At least 100 people were killed, and 4,000 more were wounded in the explosion, according to state media. That death toll is expected to rise as hundreds remain missing.
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