BEIRUT — The Syndicate of Owners of Domestic Gas Filling Centers on Saturday sounded a warning on danger of unlicensed trucks transporting gas cylinders, a day after a truck transporting domestic gas caught fire and exploded north of Beirut, causing no casualties.

Here’s what we know:

    • In a statement, the syndicate said that the truck that detonated Friday on the highway leading through Zouk Mosbeh was not licensed to transport gas cylinders.

    • The truck was “not equipped with even the lowest standards of safety,” the statement, published by the National News Agency, added.

    • The statement warned that there has been “an increase in the number of these unlicensed vehicles,” adding that the trucks were akin to “time bombs” that could lead to dangerous accidents.

    • The syndicate called on authorities to ensure the implementation of “decisions issued by the relevant ministries and departments related to public safety to prevent the circulation of unlicensed vehicles to transport this dangerous substance on public roads.”

    • On Jan. 31, the Energy Ministry announced that it was launching the last phase of a seven-year old campaign to replace 4 million old gas cylinders with new ones. The replacement drive had been suspended since early 2021.

    • Farid Zeinoun, the head of the Syndicate of Workers and Distributors of Gas in Lebanon, said in January that there are currently 900,000 old gas bottles in use in the country.