Judge Lebaon decided to prosecute interim Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers for fatal negligence in the Beirut port explosion.

Judge Fadi Sawan's decision to prosecute interim Prime Minister Diab and three former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil, Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Fenianos, came after the investigation "confirmed they had received some notification.

"They did not take the necessary measures to avoid the terrible explosion and its enormous damage," said a judicial source today.

Diab, 61, is a professor at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a former education minister.

On August 10, after days of paralysis in Lebanon from street protests following the Beirut port explosion, Diab and his entire cabinet resigned.

The Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4 was shaken after an explosion in a warehouse containing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, or 240 tons of TNT, left nearly 200 dead and about 6,500 injured.

Nearly 20 people have been detained in Lebanon following the blast, including customs and port authorities, on allegations of negligence that have had serious consequences.

The explosion dealt a fatal blow to Lebanon, a country in the midst of numerous crises, from socio-economic to Covid-19.