Relatives of Beirut blast victims gathered, on Sunday, near the remains of the exploded port to press the Lebanese government to deliver on its promises to investigate the causes of the explosion, two months after the blast that killed at least 200 people.
Dozens of protesters blocked the coastal highway in front of the Beirut port remains, marking the 2-month anniversary of the deadly blast.
Cutting off roads usually triggers a road rage, but Lebanese people passing by, paused for a moment and remained silent upon seeing the victims' pictures, held up by protesters' relatives, of the 200 people killed in the August 4 explosion.
Who allowed the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate into the country? Who arranged the storage of the dangerous material in such an unsafe warehouse? What triggered the fire that led to the explosion and what exactly happened at the Beirut port on August 4? are all questions about the explosion and are not yet answered given that the official investigation shows no sign of progress, which caused grief to increasingly give way to anger.
"We are ready to escalate! There are 200 families who lost someone, and 6,500 families who have had someone injured. If all these people decide to block a road where they live, we can paralyze the country", a protester who lost a brother in the blast told France 24.
The protester shouted through a loudspeaker demanding a proper investigation and financial compensation to the victims' families.
Burying the investigation would amount to "killing the dead a second time", he said.
The blockade lasted only a few minutes before the group decided to move back to the sidewalk. It was meant only as a warning. "Our mobilization will gradually increase if the government doesn't meet our demands", the protester said.
There were also a few green balloons with no names to honor the people who disappeared in the explosion and whose remains have not been found.
"Anger made me come today. I didn't come here last month. It's actually the first time I join a rally commemorating the explosion", Melvine Kassab told FRANCE 24.
"I don't want to block roads. We've tried it before and we saw that it's useless," she said. "We want this government to go but we've lost hope."
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