FBI investigators are set to arrive in Lebanon this weekend to help investigate the massive chemical blast in Beirut that killed nearly 200 and injured thousands.
Word of when the US team will be on the ground came from a top State Department official who visited the explosion site Saturday.
After a tour with Lebanese Army officers, Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale called for a thorough and transparent investigation of the Aug. 4 explosion, the Associated Press reported.
“We really need to make sure that there is a thorough, transparent and credible investigation. I know that is what everyone is demanding,” Hale told reporters.
Lebanon invited both the US and France to take part in the probe after tens of thousands took to Beirut’s streets last week to protest the government’s mishandling of the blast, which also left more than 300,000 homeless.
Over the past half-dozen years, the country’s customs, military, security agencies and judiciary had issued at least 10 warnings about the nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, the AP reported, citing government documents that surfaced on social media.
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