Families of Beirut Port Explosion Victims Sue US-based Company

Accountability Now, a Swiss foundation made up of international lawyers and legal experts whose mission is to support Lebanese civil society to fight against corruption, has filed a $25 million lawsuit against an American-Norwegian firm on behalf of victims of the Beirut Port explosion in 2020, which killed 281, injured 7,000 and left more than a quarter of a million people homeless. The announcement of the lawsuit comes on the second anniversary explosion. The TGS ASA firm is the owner of Spectrum, the company responsible for sub-chartering the ship that in 2013 brought the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate to the port that led to the explosion. The explosive material was stored in Warehouse 12 of the port after being confiscated by the Lebanese authorities when the ship experienced mechanical problems and was abandoned by its crew. The nine claimants in the lawsuit are American citizens or relatives of American citizens and can therefore sue TGS, which acquired Houston-based Spectrum in 2012, in a US court. The domestic investigation led by Judge Tarek Bitar since February 2021 has been de facto halted since the Tayouneh neighborhood clashes between Hizbullah and the Amal movement last October in Beirut, after Hizbullah accused the judge of bias. The announced lawsuit is meant as a way to hold someone accountable for the deadly explosion.