Beirut Blast Probe: Ship Owner Arrested in Bulgaria
Resumo
r/Lebanon covers a major development in the renewed investigation into the 2020 Beirut port blast: Bulgarian authorities arrested the suspected owner of the Rhosus ship. Lebanon must submit an extradition request during his 40-day custody period, marking a potential step toward accountability for a disaster that killed more than 220 people.
Beirut blast: 5 years on, Bulgaria arrest marks breakthrough in renewed probe
Beirut blast: 5 years on, Bulgaria arrest marks breakthrough in renewed probe
Bulgarian police have arrested the owner of a ship tied to the 2020 Beirut port blast as the resumed investigation progresses.
Beatrice Farhat
Sep 16, 2025
Beirut port
This aerial view shows a capsized ship and smoke rising from the heavily damaged grain silos in Beirut's blast-hit port on July 29, 2022. — AFP via Getty Images
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BEIRUT — Bulgarian authorities confirmed on Tuesday that the owner of a vessel suspected of importing the explosive material that caused the massive 2020 Beirut port blast has been arrested, a significant development in the investigation that resumed earlier this year.
What happened: Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old dual Russian-Cypriot citizen wanted by Interpol, was detained at Sofia Airport on Sept. 5 upon arriving from the Cypriot city of Paphos, Bulgarian outlets reported, citing the country’s chief of border police.
Chief Inspector Zdravko Samuilov told Bulgarian news agency BTA that Grechushkin did not resist arrest and nothing suspicious was found in his luggage.
He was placed in custody for up to 40 days on an order from the Sofia Court of Appeal, Bulgaria’s top prosecutor said in a press release issued Tuesday.
During this period, Lebanese authorities must issue the Bulgarian Supreme Court a request for Grechushkin’s extradition to Lebanon, where he is wanted for his role in the massive explosion.
The blast at the Beirut port in August 2020 was caused by a fire at a warehouse where nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate had been improperly stored since 2014. The explosion, one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions, sent a mushroom cloud towering over Beirut and ravaged entire neighborhoods, killing more than 220 people and injuring thousands of others.
Background: Grechushkin is the suspected owner of Rhosus, the ship that transported 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a volatile chemical commonly used in fertilizers, to the port of Beirut in November 2013.
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