Lebanon police and protesters clash on blast anniversary

LebanesepoliceonWednesday scuffled with angryprotestersdemanding accountability for last year's Beirut port explosion, a short distance from the main event marking the tragedy's firstanniversary.

The scuffles near parliament in central Beirut broke out between riotpoliceand stone-lobbingprotesters, who tried to storm the main building.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Riotpoliceresponded by firing tear gas and beating demonstrators with batons.

The Red Cross said it transported six people to the hospital and hadtreated dozens moreon-site.

Earlier, it said it had dispatched 16 ambulances and 80 paramedics in response to demonstrations in the city centre.

Nearby, a few hundred metres (yards) away at the port, thousands gathered to mark the firstanniversaryof the explosion which killed at least 214 people.

Survivors and relatives ofblastvictims carried flags and portraits of the dead, as prayers and mournful tunes rang out amid a mix of grief and anger.

There were no reports of violence there.

Shortly after 6:00 pmonAugust 4, 2020, a stock of ammonium nitrate fertiliser haphazardly stored at the city's port exploded and left swathes of the Lebanese capital looking like a war zone.

One yearon, no senior official has been held to account. A local investigation has yet to yield major arrests or even identify a culprit, with political leaders widely accused of obstructing justice.