Aug. 4 will be a national holiday in mourning for the 2020 Beirut port blast. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday announced Aug. 4 as a national holiday of mourning for the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion, the prime ministry’s Twitter account reported.
Here’s what we know:
• “Public institutions and municipalities should close on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 in memory of the tragedy of the port explosion … and as a show of solidarity with the families of the innocent martyrs and the injured and their families,” the prime ministry said in its tweet.
• Last year, the government at the time led by Hassan Diab also announced the memory of the port blast as a national holiday of mourning. On Aug. 4, 2021, tens of thousands of people, including the families of the explosion’s victims, marched from different areas of Beirut towards the port in memory of the tragedy. During the day, clashes broke out near Parliament between protesters and security forces, who used a huge amount of tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.