Company of Seized Nitrates Says Quantity was Intended for Agriculture

W460

The Lebanese company that owns the ammonium nitrate quantity that has been seized in the Bekaa has said that the fertilizer was intended for agricultural use.

"One of our employees informed the relevant authorities that we have ammonium nitrate, so they raided the warehouses on Friday," one of the company heads told French news agency AFP on condition of anonymity.

The name of the firm that owns the fertilizer has not been made public pending investigations.

"We have been working in the feed and fertilizer industry for 40 years," the company official added.

Authorities had seized the 20 tons of the dangerous chemical from a truck parked at a warehouse belonging to the company and the material was transported to a "safe place" in the Bidnayel Plain, the National News Agency had reported.

Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, who visited the Bekaa Valley on Saturday, called on security forces to conduct a sweep of the area.

"We must do our best to move these materials to a safer place away from exposure to heat and sun" to avoid a "catastrophe," the NNA quoted him as saying.

“I’m here to follow up on the investigation and not to expose its details. I will not reveal any names or detainees. I’m here to laud the work, vigilance and prudence of security agencies,” he added.

Ammonium nitrate is an odorless crystalline substance commonly used as a fertilizer that has been the cause of numerous industrial explosions over the decades.

At least 214 people were killed and some 6,500 others wounded on August 4, 2020 when a shipment of the chemical carelessly stocked at the Beirut port for years ignited and caused a massive blast. The blast also destroyed entire neighborhoods of the capital.

When combined with fuel oils, ammonium nitrate creates a potent explosive widely used in the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups for improvised explosives.

Lebanese authorities are still investigating the circumstances in which hundreds of tons of the chemical ended up in the Beirut port for years, before the monster explosion that levelled swathes of the city.

Comments 2
Thumb gma-bs-artist. 19 September 2021, 15:14

Since the very beginning this whole story had a strong smell of fertilizer.

Default-user-icon Warrior (Guest) 20 September 2021, 11:20

They should not use Amonium Nitrates as Fertilizers!!!