Beirut Port Blast: Sixth Anniversary Marked by Grief and Unanswered Questions

Beirut, Lebanon – On Tuesday, families of the victims of the catastrophic 2020 Beirut port explosion gathered to mark the sixth anniversary of the tragedy, their grief as raw as ever and their demand for justice undimmed.

During the memorial, photographs of the dead were displayed on a large screen as their names were read aloud. Many relatives broke down in tears, still struggling to come to terms with their loss.

One woman, who lost her brother in the blast, spoke of her enduring pain: "My brother is never far from my mind – every day, every day it's the same thing. I can't help but think of him every day, but the hard part is that, just as everyone has said, since the accident happened, there are no suspects, no justice, no truth, and no one is being brought to trial. We don't expect anything from them, but we miss him so much. This is a very deep pain."

The explosion occurred on the afternoon of August 4, 2020, when nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port ignited. The blast killed more than 200 people, injured thousands, and registered as a 3.3-magnitude earthquake – one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded.

Six years on, the judicial investigation remains incomplete, blocked by political obstacles and a prolonged deadlock. Families have repeatedly protested, demanding that those responsible be identified and brought to justice.

Lawyer Cecile Roukoz explained the legal stagnation: "Why haven't we reached a conclusion? Because there has been an obstacle in place since 2021 until now. This obstacle was resolved in 2025 when the judge resumed the interrogations and conducted all the interrogation sessions according to solutions he devised, which were in accordance with the law. So in 2025, the investigation resumed because there was a tenacious judge and because the families were also tenacious."

Roukoz added that the next step is for Prosecutor General Mohammad Saab to issue a legal opinion so that the judicial investigator can issue an indictment. Until then, the families say, their loved ones remain without justice, and their grief remains unresolved.