BEIRUT (AP) – A German company is ready to remove hazardous materials stored in dozens of containers in Beirut’s port, German ambassador to Lebanon said on Saturday, after efforts to secure the facility after the August 4 explosion that destroyed the harbor and a large part of the City.
Ambassador Andreas Kindl tweeted that the treatment of 52 containers of “hazardous and dangerous chemical material” had been completed in Beirut’s port. He added that the material was ready to be sent to Germany.
The decision to remove the material followed the explosion on August 4 caused by nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrates, a highly explosive fertilizer component that disappeared in the harbor for years. The blast killed 211 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed parts of the capital.
In November, Lebanon signed an agreement with the German Combi Lift to treat the containers consisting of flammable chemicals and send them abroad. The deal is worth $ 3.6 million, to which the Lebanese authorities pay $ 2 million, while the German government covers the rest.
Kindl said the material treated was a threat to people in Beirut.
Since the explosion in August and a major fire in the harbor weeks later, authorities have been concerned about hazardous materials still in the facility. A month after the blast, the Lebanese army said military experts were called in for inspection and found 4.35 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been removed and destroyed.