Six months on, families of Beirut port blast victims demand the truth

Family members of the victims of August's deadly blast at Beirut's port demanded on Thursday that Lebanese authorities go public with findings of a probe into the explosion.

The survivors, holding pictures of the victims, gathered near the port to mark six months since the cataclysmic explosion that killed at least 193 people, injured 6,000 others and left hundreds more homeless.

The August 4 blast was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been inadequately stored in the port.

Gathered for the commemoration on Thursday, some family members expressed anger at being in the dark about the inquiry.

"Six months have passed and still no answers from the judicial and political authorities on who was responsible for the killing of our children," Hiam Beqaai, who lost her 30 year-old son in the blast, told dpa.

So far, investigators have not said who had brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.

"In the beginning, the government said it will take five days to reveal the culprit," said Fatima Harb, whose son Mohammed, was killed in the blast.

"But until now we know nothing. We only know that our children have died. We want the truth, nothing but the truth," she added.

The victims' families have repeatedly called for an international probe into the blast.

Lebanese authorities rebuffed the suggestion and instead appointed a former military court judge to investigate.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch accused Lebanon of having failed to deliver justice, six months after the blast.