Lebanon: The German team that saved Beirut from a second bomb

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The German company Combi Lift, charged with disposing of chemicals found in the port after the August 4 explosion, found 52 containers containing more than 1,000 tons of hazardous materials.

The company clarified that these materials are sufficient to cause an explosion similar to that which destroyed large parts of the Lebanese capital and displaced hundreds of thousands, but the question that arises is Lebanon's need for these materials, and why were they stored in the port for a long time?

The German NTV channel quoted engineer Michael Wintler, managing director of the environmental consulting company Hübner (part of the team), that among the materials found were formic acid, hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, acetone, methyl bromide, sulfuric acid, peric acid. Oxyacetic, sodium hydroxide, and glycerines

Wintler answered, in an interview with Al-Hurra, that the team's mission was concentrated in one specific area. We found inside it these chemicals that were stored in a horrific way, noting that they did not explode due to their presence outside ward No. 12.

Engineer Wintler revealed that after inspecting these materials, it was found that they have been stored for more than 10 or even 20 years in the port, and parts of them leak into the sea of ​​the capital Beirut, in addition to causing toxic emissions as long as they are stored in this way.

In response to a question about the uses of these materials, he pointed out that they are not used in the manufacture of weapons, and they may serve as pesticides or treating the land, but stressed the idea that mixing these materials can carry another dimension. If someone wants to carry out an assassination operation in a certain place, he can do so by mixing these materials, noting that the importance of these materials in this type of operation is that they are able to kill a person by detonating them or through emissions they emit. If these materials had exploded, they would have caused the damage that occurred on August 4, and the thing that cannot be forgotten in this mission is poor storage, stressing that "5 ships are still in the port, and contain dangerous materials in poor storage conditions.

Internationally prohibited material

In turn, the executive director of the Al-Aswad group, Elias Al-Aswad, who is the president of the Lebanese-German Businessmen Association, who was assigned the task of coordinating the work of the German company with the Lebanese authorities, stated that all the materials found are internationally prohibited, and it is not permissible to use them in processing Earth and insects.

He added, What is surprising is the presence of bromate, which has been banned internationally for 30 years, wondering. How did these materials reach the port of Beirut.

In response to a question about the reason why these materials did not explode, Al-Aswad pointed out that these materials were far from ward No. 12, and they were in a specific area of ​​the port, and they do not explode unless they are collected and mixed with each other.

Al-Aswad repeated his saying, If these materials are mixed, they cause a huge explosion.

The German channel had quoted the CEO of the company, Heiko Filderhof, as saying that "the truth must be told as it is: what we found is like a second bomb in the harbor.

In this context, security sources commented on the discovery of more than 1,000 tons of chemical substances, that the port of Beirut is a large area ruled by chaos, as the security services are fought over responsibility at a time when the judicial investigation into the August 4 bombing has not yet reached serious results.

She pointed out that ward No. 12 used to contain ammonium nitrate and it exploded, but finding other materials in the port heralds another and harsher reality.

The security sources revealed that there are what are known as entry and exit permits, which are issued by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to certain ruling bodies in the country, allowing them to enter and take out what they want from the port of Beirut.

Last November, Lebanon signed a contract with the German company Compi Lift worth 3.6 million dollars to dispose of dangerous inflammable materials after it was discovered that they were stored in the Beirut port, which witnessed a terrible explosion six months ago.

Today, the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic announced that President Michel Aoun has informed the German ambassador that the process of packing containers containing flammable materials is finished in the Beirut port and that they are ready to be transported to Germany.

A few days ago, the German ambassador to Beirut, Andreas Kindle, reported on Twitter that the first part of the handling of containers for highly dangerous chemicals had been completed, and said that they were ready for shipment to Germany.