In October 2013 the MV Rhosus, a ship sailing under the Moldovan flag, headed from Georgia to Mozambique carrying a huge supply of ammonium nitrate, a volatile chemical commonly used in fertilizers. Then, unexpectedly, the Rhosus diverted to Beirut for what was meant to be a short stop.
Instead, the ship was held by port authorities over irregularities, in what evolved into a months-long legal saga between authorities and the vessel’s Russian owner, and set off a chain of events that now appears to have led to Tuesday’s deadly explosion that devastated the Lebanese capital.
Though the Lebanese government is still investigating the exact causes of the blast and has given no official ruling, multiple media reports have pieced together how the events leading up to the disaster may have unfolded, highlighting alleged neglect on all levels and across the timeline of events.
Lebanese authorities have said 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that ignited in a warehouse at Beirut’s port were behind the enormous explosion that killed at least 135 people and injured about 5,000, while displacing some 300,000 whose homes were rendered unlivable by the blast and the ensuing shock wave. READ MORE
