At least two remaining silos at Beirut's port have collapsed, as crowds gathered at the site to mark two years to the day since the deadly explosion which rocked Lebanon's capital.
The concrete silos cracked and fell, sending a cloud of smoke into the sky. People protesting the government's handling of the blast inquiry, covered their mouths in disbelief.
The damaged grain silos had remained standing as a painful scar from the explosion which rocked the city in 2020, killing over 200 people and injuring more than 7000 others.
The blast — which originated from the port — left 300,000 people homeless in the wake of it's destructive force.
Thursday's collapse of roughly a fourth of the structure occurred an hour before hundreds of people were to gather outside the facility to mark the 2nd anniversary of the disaster.
Authorities had evacuated parts of the port earlier this week, after an initial section of the silos collapsed on Sunday
Officials said more of the structure could collapse at any time after a fire had begun smouldering at the foot of the silos over the past few weeks, the result of summer heat igniting rotting and fermenting grain.
Calls for investigation
The two-year anniversary came amid calls for an international investigation into the blast, one of the most destructive single incidents in Lebanon's troubled modern history.
The domestic investigation has been stalled since December following legal challenges by charged and accused officials against the judge leading the investigation.
Hundreds of people, including families of the victims, marched from three locations in Beirut toward the main road outside the port. Some carried white coffins with name of some of the victims while others carried gallows demanding punishment for those responsible.
"Two years later the pain is still the same," said one of the family members who lost his brother.
Two years on, none of the top politicians have apologised to the Lebanese. The government called for a day of mourning, leading many businesses to close.
Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the Lebanese investigation, had charged four former senior government officials with intentional killing and negligence that led to the deaths of scores of people. He also charged several top security officials in the case
But none of them have been detained and two of those charged were re-elected to parliament in May.
"There is no justice under the rule of militia and mafia," read one banner carried during Thursday's march.
Many have blamed the Lebanese government’s longtime corruption and mismanagement, saying it paved way for the tragedy, when hundreds of tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, a material used in fertilisers, detonated at the port.
ABC/Wires
