Months after Beirut blast, victims await answers

FILE PHOTO: A view shows pictures of three related firefighters, Najib Hitti, 27, his brother-in-law Charbel Karam, 37, and his cousin Charbel Hitti, 21, who were killed as they battled the flames that ignited the explosives in the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port, during an interview with Reuters, in the village of Qartaba, Lebanon December 3, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tracy and Paul Najjar believe their daughter Alexandra could have survived the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port if the authorities had raised the alarm on that fateful day.

As they mourn the loss of their three-year-old, one question continues to haunt them: why did no one warn residents or evacuate them as fire raged for more than half an hour close to a huge store of ammonium nitrate?