EU: Beirut Blast Probe ‘Should be Allowed to Proceed’

The European Union said on Tuesday that the probe into the deadly explosion at Beirut's port last year must be finished as quickly as feasible.

Peter Stano, a spokeswoman for the EU's foreign policy agency, said in a statement that the investigation should be objective, credible, transparent, and independent.

He added that those responsible for this catastrophe should be held accountable. He said that the inquiry should be allowed to progress without any intervention in judicial proceedings.

He said that it is up to the Lebanese authorities to devote all necessary human and financial resources to the investigation so that it can eventually shed light on what occurred in August of last year and provide legitimate answers to the pressing issues of the Lebanese people about why and how it occurred.

The enormous blast at the harbour in August 2020 killed at least 215 people, injured many more, and wreaked havoc on entire neighborhoods of Lebanon's capital.

Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive substance used in fertiliser, had been unlawfully kept in the port for years, with many of the country's highest executives apparently knowing about it.