Judge named to lead Beirut blast probe

Ten days after the deadly Beirut explosion, rescue workers recovered the remains of firefighters killed while battling the initial blaze, as authorities appointed a well-respected judge to lead the investigation.

Authorities named judge Fadi Sawan, known, according to judicial sources, for his independence and integrity, to lead investigations into the explosion.

But he will not himself question current and former Ministers on the ammonium nitrate that was stocked at the port. They will instead be referred to a special judicial body specialised in questioning government officials. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of Iran was set to meet officials in the capital on Friday.

At the now-devastated port, rescue workers continued to recover the remains of those killed by the ignition of a huge shipment of ammonium nitrate fertiliser left unsecured in a warehouse for six years.

Relatives of three firefighters from the same family, who had been at the port attempting to put out the fire thought to have ignited the blast, were informed that the remains of two of them had been identified by DNA analysis.