Top Lebanese Christian party official killed in Beirut blast
Publication Date: 5/8/2020
Source: The New Arab
The secretary-general of Lebanon's Christian Phalanges Party, or Kataeb, was killed in the double blast that devastated Beirut's port on Tuesday, local media reported.
Nizar Najarian was among 73 people killed in the explosion, that spread panic and chaos across Lebanon's capital city.
Najarian died from serious wounds sustained by the powerful explosion at Beirut's port, MTV reported.
Over 3,700 people were injured by the blast, which damaged buildings all across the city and left the streets a rubble-strewn disaster scene.
Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that 2,750 tonnes of the agricultural fertiliser ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years in a portside warehouse had blown up, sparking "a disaster in every sense of the word".
Bloodied and dazed wounded people stumbled among the debris, glass shards and burning buildings in central Beirut.
"What happened today will not pass without accountability," said Diab. "Those responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price."