Beirut blasts: Officials in charge of port placed under house arrest
Action follows twin port explosions that killed more than 100 people and hurt over 4,000
The Lebanese government has placed officials in charge of Beirut port under house arrest a day after blasts that killed at least 113 people and injured nearly 4,000, reported local media on Wednesday.
The announcement was made by Manal Abdul Samad, Minister of Information, following a government meeting held in reaction to the massive twin blasts that rocked the capital yesterday.
The house arrest will include only officials who are directly involved in storing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, highly explosive materials, in a warehouse at the port for six years. The explosive materials were stored unsafely.
The house arrest will not include prime ministers nor MPs. It will involve only officials who are directly linked to the 2014 unsafe storing of ammonium nitrate in store 12 in the port. The military authority has been assigned to supervise the house arrest of the involved officials, and will be responsible for security in Beirut.
A committee has been set up to probe the incident and identify the causes of the blasts.
The government is studying the possibility of opening schools to shelter the displaced people whose houses were destroyed in the explosion. Four field hospitals to be set up immediately to provide treatment for the injured.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior said that investigation into the port blasts will take five days, and those responsible would be held accountable and punished.