Lebanon Marks One Month since Catastrophic Explosion

Citizens, activists, the army and the Beirut Fire Brigade held ceremonies and sit-ins at the blast-hit Beirut port on Friday to mark one month since the cataclysmic Aug. 4 blast that killed 191 people, injured 6,500 others and traumatized Lebanon.

People throughout Lebanon meanwhile observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims.

The commemoration ceremonies at the port were held in the presence of some of the victims’ relatives. Soldiers fired a salute, then laid a white rose for every one of the 191 victims at a memorial. The crowd fell silent at 6:08 p.m., the moment of the explosion that marked the most destructive single blast in Lebanon's violent history.

Relatives of the deceased also laid white flowers near the memorial, which bears the names of all those killed in the blast.

"One month on, we still don't know why the explosion happened and who is responsible," said Michele, the sister of a port employee who was killed.

Church bells tolled, mosques made a call for prayers and ambulances blared their sirens simultaneously. Some present there wept silently. Others held ropes tied as nooses -- an indication of the grief and raw anger toward officials that persists in the country.

The blast was caused by nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored at Beirut's port for years. In addition to the dead and injured, thousands of homes were damaged by the blast, which smashed windows and doors for kilometers and was felt on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

It still isn't clear what caused the fire that ignited the ammonium nitrate. The public blames the corruption and negligence of Lebanon's politicians, security and judicial officials, many of whom knew about the storage of the chemicals and did nothing.

"We will hold you accountable," one banner read. A firefighting force drove from its headquarters in the direction of the port, marking the route that 10 of their colleagues took when they rushed to put out the fire but were killed instead.

All 25 suspects identified by the blast probe, including  port director-general Hassan Qureitem and customs chief Badri Daher, are in the custody of Lebanese authorities.

But political leaders, whose negligence and corruption are widely blamed for the explosion, have so far dodged arrest.

The lead investigator in the blast probe, Judge Fadi Sawwan, on Thursday interrogated caretaker PM Hassan Diab, as a witness, according to media reports. But Sawwan might not have the authority to interrogate or order the arrest of incumbents in government and parliament without recourse to a special judicial-parliamentary body dedicated to trying top officials.