Officials Long Warned of Explosive Chemicals at Beirut Port

At least 10 times did Lebanon authorities raise alarm that a massive stockpile of explosive chemicals was being kept with almost no safeguard in Beirut.

A rescue team surveys the site of this week's massive explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon on Aug. 7, 2020. Thibault Camus/AP Photo

BEIRUT—At least 10 times over the past six years, authorities from Lebanon’s customs, military, security agencies and judiciary raised alarm that a massive stockpile of explosive chemicals was being kept with almost no safeguard at the port in the heart of Beirut, newly surfaced documents show.

Yet in a circle of negligence, nothing was done—and on Tuesday, the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up, obliterating the city’s main commercial hub and spreading death and wreckage for miles around.