Over a month after the incident, the verdict on the case of the fuel tank explosion in Tariq Al-Jdideh, Beirut, has been delivered.
Acting First Investigative Judge in Beirut Charbel Abou Samra issued his judgment on the explosion case on Thursday.
The judge referred “A.S.,” the owner of the warehouse wherein the tank that exploded in September had been stored, to the Single Criminal Judge in Beirut.
A.S., who has been under arrest since the explosion took place on October 9th, will be tried for the crime of causing the death of three people, wounding others, and causing damage to public and private property, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
In the indictment, Abou Samra indicated that the defendant had stored hazardous materials in a residential building, and that the warehouse was not equipped with ventilation and fire extinguishers.
This endangered the public safety of the residents of that building and put the surrounding area at risk, Judge Abou Samra concluded.
The explosion took place in a densely-populated neighborhood after a fuel tank was exposed to electricity and resulted in 3 deaths and around 50 injuries, dealing heavy damage to surrounding property.
It later prompted the governor of Beirut to ban the storage of fuel in buildings to prevent similar incidents from recurring.