|  Updated: 

Beirut explosion linked to London address used by shell company

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google
Smoke rises from a port facility after large explosions on August 4, 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon that have killed at least 78 people
According to the paper trail, Savaro was the last owner of the ammonium nitrate which was abandoned at the Beirut port in November 2013.

Ownership of the deadly stockpile of ammonium nitrate that exploded last August in Beirut, killing over 200 people, has been traced back to a London address commonly used by shell companies, an investigation by Globe and Mail has found.

The London address, minutes away from Oxford Circus, belongs to a London-listed company called Savaro Ltd.

According to the paper trail, Savaro was the last owner of the ammonium nitrate which was abandoned at the Beirut port in November 2013. The owners of the stockpile never came for the products, which had an estimated value of around $700,000.

Experts have suggested that the London address was a way to legitimise Savaro, a suspected shell company.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge has said that the British government’s Department for Business had launched an inquiry to establish who the owners of Savaro are.

Hodge added that the company had been stopped from dissolving this year by the Beirut Bar Association who are investigating the London-listed company.