Lebanese authorities detained 16 Beirut port staff members on Thursday, while over a dozen other workers were questioned as part of an investigation into the deadly blast that rocked Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The investigation, being carried out under the supervision of the Lebanese Army and Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces Information Division, saw Lebanon’s central bank order an asset freeze of several port and customs officials.
The tragedy has put a major pressure on the local authorities to determine who should be held accountable for the explosion, with the country’s Prime Minister vowing to punish the culprits.
The investigative committee has been given four days to complete the investigation, Al Jazeera reports.
On the other hand, some of the local population is blaming the Lebanese government for the tragedy accusing the current leadership of negligence.
The EU has also offered an additional € 33 million of aid to Lebanon and mobilized material resources, including firefighters, to help the country save lives and determine the extent of the damage.
The EU has also activated its Copernicus Satellite mapping system to support the Lebanese authorities in assessing the extent of the damage.
The explosion destroyed almost everything in the port and the surrounding area up to a radius of 10 km, sending a shockwave across the city equal to an earthquake of 4.5 on the Richter scale.
據路透社報導，黎巴嫩當局週四拘留了16名貝魯特港口工作人員，同時，又對十多名工人進行了調查作為周二黎巴嫩首都的致命爆炸事件進行調查的一部分。
在黎巴嫩軍隊和黎巴嫩內部安全部隊信息部的監督下進行的調查發現黎巴嫩中央銀行下令凍結數名港口和海關官員的資產。
這場悲劇給地方當局施加了巨大壓力，該國總理誓言要懲處肇事者，迫使他們確定應對爆炸負責的人。
半島電視台報導說，調查委員會已獲得四天時間完成調查。
另一方面，一些當地居民將這場悲劇歸咎於黎巴嫩政府，他們指責目前的領導層疏忽大意。
歐盟還向黎巴嫩提供了額外的3300萬歐元的援助，並動員了包括消防員在內的物質資源，以幫助該國挽救生命並確定損失的程度。
歐盟還激活了哥白尼衛星測繪系統，以幫助黎巴嫩當局評估損害程度。
爆炸摧毀了港口和周邊地區幾乎所有半徑10公里以內的東西，在整個城市發出了相當於里氏4.5級地震的衝擊波。
Imformation source: World Maritime News
