Initial investigations into the Beirut port blast indicate years of inaction and negligence over the storage of highly explosive material caused the explosion that killed more than 100 people, an official source familiar with the findings said.
The prime minister and presidency have said that 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers and bombs, had been stored for six years at the port without safety measures.
"It is negligence," the official source said, adding that the issue on storing the material safely had come before several committees and judges and "nothing was done" to order the material be removed or disposed of,