UK ruling delivers rare victory for Beirut blast victims

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — A British court has ruled a London-based company that delivered the explosive ammonium nitrate to Beirut’s port is liable towards the victims of a devastating 2020 blast, according to Lebanon’s Beirut Bar Association. Families of the victims said ruling is a step toward justice against political intervention that has obstructed a probe in Lebanon for over two years. The Aug. 4, 2020, blast happened when hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, used in fertilizers, detonated at Beirut’s port and killed more than 200 people. More than 6,000 were injured and large parts of the city were damaged. London-registered chemical trading firm, Savaro Ltd., is suspected to have chartered the shipment of ammonium nitrate.