Families of Beirut port blast victims mark 20 months

The bereaved men and women marched toward the port holding portraits of their lost ones. There, a group of women dressed in black sat at the foot of a statue of a Lebanese émigré crying in silence.

The families lit candles at 6:07 p.m., the exact time of the blast.

They marked 20 months since the devastating Beirut blast that killed more than 200 people and injured thousands.

Twenty months later, nearly everything remains unknown — from who ordered the shipment to why officials ignored repeated warnings of the danger. Families of the victims have been pressing for answers, accusing political parties of obstructing the local investigation.