Lebanon asks Interpol to arrest Russian captain, shipowner after Beirut blast
Lebanese authorities say the cargo ship carried the stockpile of ammonium nitrate to the port in 2013.
Lebanon has requested Interpol issue international arrest warrants for two Russians allegedly connected to the explosive cargo blamed for the blast that killed nearly 200 people in Beirut.
Bound for Mozambique in 2013, the MV Rhosus cargo ship stopped at the Beirut port with 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate on board. After failing to pay port docking and other fees, the Rhosus was impounded and the next year its cargo was unloaded and stored in the port’s Warehouse 12.
Lebanese authorities determined that the improperly stored highly explosive chemical, which is often used in fertilizers, was responsible for the explosion that ripped through the city on Aug. 4 and left a quarter of a million residents without homes. The blast gutted entire neighborhoods and damaged some 8,000 structures.
Lebanon’s state prosecution asked the international police organization Interpol to arrest the owner of the Rhosus and its captain, according to Reuters, citing Lebanon’s National News Agency on Thursday.
