Icon: enlarge
Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab
Photo: Bilal Hussein / AP
More than four months after the Beirut explosion, a Lebanese investigative judge has brought charges against incumbent Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers.
The news agencies reported unanimously, citing judicial circles.
They were given negligence and complicity in the large number of victims, it said.
Those responsible had "not taken the necessary measures", although they were said to have been warned in "several written notices against further postponement of the disposal of the ammonium nitrate".
The highly explosive chemical ammonium nitrate, which is said to have been stored unsecured in the port for years, caused the explosion in August with more than 190 dead and more than 6,000 injured.
Large parts of the port of Beirut and the surrounding residential areas were badly damaged or completely destroyed.
The four accused are to be questioned about the allegations next week.
Then the decision is made whether they have to go to court.
The Prime Minister's office announced that Diab had a "clear conscience".
He is convinced that his hands are clean and that he has acted responsibly.
Diab had only been able to form a cabinet seven months before the explosion.
Icon: enlarge
The explosion in the port of Beirut in August caused massive destruction in large parts of the city
Photo: ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS / REUTERS
In addition to Diab, the charges were brought against former finance minister Ali Hassan Chalil and two former public works ministers.
more on the subject
Icon: Spiegel Plus Reconstruction of the Beirut Explosion: The Drama of Hall 12 by Uwe Buse, Christoph Reuter and Thore Schröder
Icon: Spiegel PlusEin Fischer tells of the decline of Lebanon: "The civil war was the best time here" By Thore Schröder
Icon: Spiegel PlusAn eyewitness reports on the explosion in Beirut: "I supported my neighbor with one hand and held her fingers in the other" By Uwe Buse
Young people in Beirut: "Nobody in Lebanon makes more plans" An interview by Maria Stöhr
Diab and his government announced their resignation shortly after the explosion and are only in office.
The politician Saad Hariri, charged with forming a government, has so far failed to form a new cabinet because of internal power struggles.
Lebanon has been in one of the worst economic crises in its history for months and urgently needs foreign aid.
The corona pandemic and the explosion have made the situation even worse.
Icon: The mirror
fek / dpa / AFP
