CHEMICAL WARNINGS IGNORED FOR YEARS

It’s like an apocalypse. Pure negligence and that’s the ultimate manifestation of how bad governance has been in Lebanon, with no accountability whatsoever, a manifestation of failure that should jolt us to wake up.”

Yassine Jaber | Lebanese lawmaker

The volatile chemical suspected of causing the deadly explosion that flattened Lebanon’s main port had been lying in storage there for six years despite warnings from customs officials about its hazards, documents show. The ammonium nitrate equivalent to 1,800 tonnes of TNT - was unloaded from the cargo ship Rhosus in 2014, according to two letters issued by the director-general of Lebanese Customs. For reasons that are unclear, dockworkers unloaded the chemical, which can be used to make fertilisers and explosives, and put it into storage.

Welders lit the fire

Workers welding a door on Tuesday started a fire that ignited the chemicals, Lebanese broadcaster LBCI said. Customs officials asked judicial authorities at least twice to issue orders for the highly inflammable substance to be confiscated or re-exported. In one of the letters, dated May 3, 2016, the director-general at that time, Shafik Merhe, warned of “the extreme danger” from storing the chemical in a warehouse “in these unsuitable weather conditions,” saying it posed a risk to the staff and port. LBCI reported yesterday that the Rhosus had been scheduled to sail with its cargo from Beirut six years ago but had stayed on at the port due to a mechanical failure. The commercial chemical explosive is almost as powerful as dynamite.