Hundreds are gathering to celebrate five years since Beirut Barak – my country

Hundreds of Lebanese met near the Beirut coast on Monday to celebrate half of the decade since the catastrophic port explosion of 2020, when more than 200 people were killed in one of the largest nuclear explosions in history.

He holds flags and Lebanese for some of the victims, many of those who stood up said that they were deeply disappointed by that No one has been detained For the devastating explosion.

“Can anyone tell me why we are still standing here for five years? If everyone is standing with this issue, then who is against us?” William Nun, his brother Joseph, said, FirefighterHe was killed by the explosion.

“This file must be closed.” Nun said from a stage that was prepared near the port.

The explosion destroyed large areas of Beirut, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.

The names of all the dead were read when the demonstrators stood in the face Beirut grain silos wreckageAnd that was severely damaged in the explosion and continued to deteriorate and collapse for years.

At 6:07 pm – the explosion time five years ago – I stood a few hundred of the gathering for a moment of silence.

“I am here because I find it crazy that after five years, we still do not know exactly what happened,” said Catherine Otik, 30, said.

Although she had not lost anyone himself, the Lebanese expatriates living in France said that she made it clear that she would return to Beirut every year to celebrate as a duty towards his Lebanese colleagues.

The explosion of the port for nearly a year came in the catastrophic economic collapse, Lebanon, followed by a political crisis that was paralyzed by the government The devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel Starting from 2023.

The explosion was believed to have broken out a fire in a warehouse on the evening of August 4, 2020, which led to the bombing of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate.

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Lebanese officials promised at the time to complete the investigation into the root causes of the explosion within five days.

But years of political intervention stumbled on the investigation, as judicial officials and patients at the time have constantly raised the legal challenges against the investigative judges, which effectively paralyzes the investigation.

Some Lebanese have acquired the hope of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nour Salam – both of whom reached power at the beginning of this year – to determine the priorities of justice for the victims of the explosion.

On Monday, Aoun pledged responsibility for the explosion, regardless of their position or political affiliation. “Justice will not die, and accountability will inevitably come,” he said.

The President and the Prime Minister did not attend a memory on Monday.

Judge Tara Betar Its investigation has been resumed earlier this year and many officials interrogated in recent months – but it has not yet issued a preliminary indictment, which many Lebanese were considering taking into account before the fifth anniversary.

“We want a full and comprehensive initial indictment,” said Paul Najar, whose three -year -old daughter Alexandra killed. “We want to know who was supposed to evacuate our neighborhoods, so that we can reach the hospital, and so my daughter could have survived.”

Naggear and his wife TRAY were among the most accountability of the explosion.

Rights groups have pressed for a full investigation that would define a series of full responsibility.

“The delay in justice is denied,” said Rina Wip, an Amnesty International activist, said.

“The families of the dead and wounded have waited for the Beirut explosion for five unbearable years. They should not have to withstand another year of impunity.”