In a meeting with President Aoun on Friday, the Lebanese army said it had discovered more dangerous material at the port of Beirut.
So far, the army uncovered 143 containers with explosive and flammable material during search operations at the port, where a deadly blast shook Beirut to the core last month.
According to the head of the engineering regiment, Colonel Roger Khoury, the explosive material had been stored there for the last 15 years.
In the meeting, the army also informed the president that it found over 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near the port dating back to 2004.
The army assured that it has properly disposed of the chemical material.
The tragedy of August 4th was the result of thousands of tons of ill-fated ammonium nitrate stored poorly in a warehouse for 6 years with other hazardous material. The mixture of dangerous material led to a massive explosion.
To top it off, a huge fire ravaged the port on Thursday. Clouds of black smoke filled the air over Beirut. The sight made residents relive moments of terror and panic until the fire was put out after many hours.
The fire was reportedly the result of welding work at the port. “Stray sparks set light to flammable contents,” reported Reuters.
“Does it take multiple atrocities to learn how to store hazardous material safely?” A Beirut resident issued in sarcasm.
