The Beirut Blast continues to claim lives over 19 months after its calamitous horror on August 4th, 2020.
The victims Julia Audi and Rita Antoun Hardini died over the weekend within less than 24 hours of difference.
On Saturday, March 26th, 2022, Julia Audi succumbed to her critical health condition. Julia had awakened from her one-month coma after the blast but never improved, enduring over 19 months of suffering.
On Sunday, March 27th, 2022, Rita Antoun Hardini passed away after barely surviving in a state of coma since the blast, hooked to an oxygen breathing machine. She was 20 years old
The news raised outrage, reviving the trauma of the horror of the Beirut Blast that killed over 234 innocent people, and wounded over 3000 others. Among the wounded, some have been maimed for life, and some are still in critical conditions.
Rita Antoun Hardini and Julia Audi have now joined the victims killed by the negligence of the successive governments without having had justice, leaving behind more families in grief, and the nation calling for accountability.
Just last week, some families of the victims filed a lawsuit against two former ministers as political power continues to obstruct the investigation.