Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Tuesday vowed to continue investigations into the explosions that rocked Beirut earlier this month and left at least 171 people dead and wounded around 6,000 others.
Aoun said in a statement, “I will not remain silent nor will I rest until we reveal all the facts about these explosions; referring the explosions to the Supreme Judicial Council is the first step in this direction,” Aoun said in a statement.
The ruling political class came under heavy criticism by the Lebanese people who accused them of negligence and recklessness by storing a big volume of ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port.
Primary information revealed that ammonium nitrate stored since 2014 in warehouse No. 12 at Port of Beirut may have caused the explosions in Beirut.
On Monday, Lebanon’s government resigned amid mounting anger over the explosion.
Earlier, PM Diab said that 2,750 tonnes of the agricultural fertiliser ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a portside warehouse had blown up, sparking “a disaster in every sense of the word”.
President Michel Aoun has asked the government to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed.
The huge blast damaged buildings in a radius of several kilometres in Beirut, leaving more than 200,000 homeless or living in homes with no windows or doors.
Coronavirus had curbed the protests, but the financial situation has continued to worsen and last Tuesday’s explosion was seen by many as the deadly result of years of corruption and mismanagement.
The government’s plans to investigate were not enough for many who have lost all faith in the political elite. Before the cabinet’s resignation, a number of ministers had already offered to step down.