UK’s Fire Brigades Union Is Demanding An International Probe Into Beirut Blast

The UK's Fire Brigade Is Pushing For An International Probe Into Beirut Blast
Fire Brigades Union | AP /Hussein Malla

As the three-month anniversary of the catastrophic Beirut Port explosion approaches, a new voice has joined the call for an international investigation into the explosion’s cause.

The UK’s Fire Brigades Union (FBU) joined Amnesty International in calling on the British government to push for a full international probe into the August 4 blast.

As does Amnesty, the FBU believes that the Lebanese authorities have no intention of conducting an effective, transparent, and impartial investigation into the explosion, the former said in an article.

As such, the victims of the explosion are being denied “their right to truth, justice, and remedy, including the families of the firefighters who died doing their jobs at the port,” Amnesty said.

With that said, the FBU and Amnesty are calling on UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to join calls for a trustworthy international investigation mandated to assess all aspects of responsibility for the blast.

“The devastating scenes in Beirut will live long in the memory and the thoughts of firefighters in the UK,” FBU Secretary-General Matt Wrack said.

“Each day, firefighters across the world are first on the scene responding to fires and other incidents in the knowledge that they may never return.”

“Tragically, the brave men and women responding to the fire at the Port of Beirut did so without being told that 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were present on the site – they were led to their deaths and unforgivably let down,” Wrack added.

On her part, Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK, affirmed that Lebanon has “a long and wretched history of its politicians allowing serious crimes – including serious human rights violations – to go unpunished…”

“… That’s precisely what appears to be happening all over again.”

The local investigation that the Lebanese authorities launched after the blast, after having refused to host an international one, has yet to reach a conclusion regarding the cause of the blast and the individuals responsible for it.

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