6 days ago
Inauguration of the 'Street of the Victims of Aug. 4,' near Beirut Port
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the deadly explosion at Beirut Port, a section of Charles Helou Avenue located near one of the entrances to the capital's port was named on Sunday the "Street of the Victims of Aug. 4," following a request made by the victims' families.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar, Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud and relatives of the victims of the disaster.
Speaking at the event, Salam called to "take hands off justice."
"We will not compromise on justice or truth," he said. He also noted that "no one is above the law" in the port explosion case.
"We will not compromise on this question because truth is the mother of justice," he stated, believing that "there will be no justice as long as the whole truth has not been revealed." He again emphasized the government's commitment to follow this case until justice is done.
Earlier in the day, Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said he added the Beirut Port silos, ravaged by the deadly explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, and the site of a series of fires in 2022, to the general inventory of historic monuments. During a roundtable at the National Library in Sanayeh, dedicated to the repercussions of the disaster and organized with the Ministry of Social Affairs — the first of its kind for the Aug. 4 commemoration — Nawaf Salam stated that "every official will be held accountable" for this tragedy.
On the eve of Aug. 4, several political, religious and social figures on Sunday called for accountability and denounced the ongoing impunity.
The explosions at Beirut Port killed 235 people, injured more than 7,000 and destroyed a significant part of the capital. Five years later, no officials have yet been tried, due to political interference in the investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar. Several commemorations are planned for Sunday and Monday.
