More than 20 relatives of victims of the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, calling for an investigation into the blast that killed more than 200 people and injured another 7000.
They discussed how it had been four years since the explosion and those responsible had still not been identified.
“With you, I ask for truth and justice. With you, I remember all those whose lives were taken by that tremendous explosion,” the pope said.
“Truth and justice which have not yet arrived.”
The material damage done to the city was enormous, leaving the capital with approximately US$20 billion in damages.
The blast occurred when approximately 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, ignited in a warehouse located in the the port of Beirut, decimating much of the Lebanese capital.
Pope Francis also used the meeting to call for peace in Lebanon and for the country to not pay for the consequences of other conflicts in the Middle East.