Even today, the number of lives lost to the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion remains a matter of confusion. Is it 218, 220, 235, or even more?

Three years have now passed since the tragedy, and no official figure has been provided by the authorities. As a precaution, the victims are often numbered at "over 220."

However, local associations and international NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch now agree on a more precise number: 235.

Ahmad Mroueh, founder of the Initiative for Socioeconomic Justice (MAAN) and Beirut607.org (named in reference to the hour of the disaster), along with the Association of Victims of the Double Explosion at the Port, led by Mariana Fodoulian, have worked tirelessly to reach this conclusion after meticulous documentation.

Mroueh has collaborated with dozens of journalists to collect individual information about each victim. Part of their fieldwork involved reaching out to affected families to ensure accurate data.

"We initially collaborated with hospitals, security forces, and several ministries," Mroueh said, noting that "the lists held by these institutions count fewer than 200 people because they haven't been updated."

The Ministry of Health did not respond to our inquiries on that topic, and the spokespersons of the Ministries of Interior and Defense stated that they were "not currently able to provide the exact figures from their lists of victims."

Notably, Beirut607.org and the Association of Victims at the Port of Beirut have exchanged databases. Mariana Fodoulian, who lost her sister in the tragedy, affirms that the lists held by both NGOs include the names of all foreign nationals killed in the double explosion. According to Fodoulian, the Ministry of Defense did not include foreign nationals in their list.

She attributes this gap to the fact that the ministry only counted those who could qualify as "martyrs of the army," in other words, the Lebanese citizens.

Fodoulian also said official institutions' lists contain other errors. "Some female victims have been counted twice, once under their maiden name and again under their husband's name. Other deceased individuals were wrongly identified, something that was later corrected through DNA testing. Relatives of some victims were “unable to obtain reports from doctors and hospitals and as a result, could not obtain the death certificates required by the authorities," Fodoulian explained.

Ahmad Mroueh also mentioned ambiguous cases, like that of "a Syrian national who was presented by his family as having been killed in the double explosion while working at the port for a company."

"It turned out that he had left his job six months before the explosion and had recently been in contact with the said company," Mroueh said, adding that he followed up on this case with the complaints office at the Beirut Bar Association.

Mroueh also pointed out that "due to succumbing to their injuries long after the explosion, some victims are not included in the official lists."

"In February 2021, we counted 213 deaths. Our continuous research now shows that there are 235," he said. Mroueh hopes the Beirut607.org list can serve as a reference for possible compensation to victims' families.

This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.