Beirut fuel tank explosion at a bakery kills four, several others injured

On October 9, a diesel tank exploded inside a Beirut building, killing four people and injuring several others. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear to authorities. As per an AP report the explosion occurred inside a bakery in the basement of the building in the western neighbourhood of Tariq Jadidah.

Fire at bakery kills 4 in Lebanon

Firefighters responding to the blaze were able to quickly put out the fire and then proceeded to free others who were trapped in the building. Lebanon also deployed troops in an effort to take control of the situation and push back onlookers drawn by the explosion.

This incident occurred just two months after a massive explosion occurred in Beirut port and sent shockwaves across the entire city. The August 4 blast occurred when 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in fertilizers, exploded and killed almost 200 people and injured thousands more. The blast which has been termed the largest non-nuclear blast in history also caused billions worth of damage and left hundreds of people homeless.

The precise cause of the ignition of the ammonium nitrate still remains unknown, but Beirut and Lebanon were thrown into disarray after the explosion and large scale protests even forced the government to step down. Since the incident, dozens of port officials, as well as customs officials, have been detained in connection to the incident.

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Lebanon seeks ship owner & captain's arrest

On October 1, the judge that is leading the investigation into the August 4 Beirut port blast issued absentee arrest warrants for the owner of the ship Rhosus and its captain and has asked the international police organisation 'Interpol' to detain two men without publicly identifying them, according to reports.

The ship in question was docked in Beirut in 2013 after suffering a technical snag while it was sailing from Georgia en route Mozambique, and the contents of which were stored at the port in an unsafe condition. After the ship was docked in Beirut, its contents which had 2700 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate were offloaded in 2014 and kept in unsafe condition at a warehouse in the port, which led to a devastating explosion six years later on August 4, 2020.

(With AP inputs, Image AP)

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