Lebanon marks five years after Beirut port blast
BEIRUT

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun Monday vowed that "justice is coming," five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port for which nobody has been held to account.
The blast on Aug. 4, 2020, was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, devastating swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500.
The explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Aoun said that the Lebanese state "is committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions" involved.
"The law applies to all, without exception," Aoun said in a statement.
"The blood of your loved ones will not be in vain," the president told victims' families, adding, "Justice is coming, accountability is coming."
After more than a two-year impasse following political and judicial obstruction, investigating judge Tarek Bitar has finished questioning defendants and suspects, a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity.