The Russian owner of the cargo ship linked to the delivery of ammonium nitrate that was at the center of the devastating Beirut port explosion in 2020 has been arrested in Bulgaria.
Igor Grechushkin's arrest comes nearly five years after a Lebanese investigating judge issued two arrest warrants through Interpol - against him and the ship's captain, Boris Prokoshev, also a Russian citizen.
Lebanese court sources told "Euronews" that documents are being prepared requesting Grechushkin's extradition to Lebanon for questioning. If he is not extradited, Lebanese investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him there.
According to four judicial sources, Grechushkin, who also holds Cypriot citizenship, was detained last week at Sofia's Vasil Levski Airport after arriving on a flight from Cyprus.
The explosion on August 4, 2020, killed at least 218 people and injured more than 6,000 others. It devastated large parts of Beirut and caused billions of euros in damage. So far, no Lebanese public official has been convicted in connection with the tragedy.
Earlier this year, Lebanon elected President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nauf Salam, and a reformist cabinet that promised to complete the investigation and hold those responsible accountable.
Authorities say the disaster was caused by a fire in a warehouse where a huge stockpile of an industrial chemical, ammonium nitrate, had been stored indiscriminately for years.
The explosion came amid an economic collapse that the World Bank has described as one of the worst in modern history and that is widely blamed on the ruling elite, who are accused of corruption and mismanagement.
From the outset, the investigation into the explosion has been marred by a series of political and legal obstacles. In December 2020, lead investigator Fadi Sawan filed charges of negligence against former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers. Sawan was removed from the case under political pressure.
However, in July, investigating judge Tarek Bitar summoned senior political, judicial, and security officials in a new attempt to bring the case to a close.