Dozens were injured Wednesday when Lebanese police clashed with protesters demanding accountability for last year's Beirut port explosion, a short distance from the main event marking the tragedy's first anniversary.

Scuffles in central Beirut broke out between riot police and stone-lobbing protesters, who lit a fire and tried to storm the parliament's headquarters, whose members have been accused of stalling a probe into the disaster.

Riot police responded by firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water canons, and urging "peaceful protesters" to leave.

"In light of repeated attacks on members of the Internal Security Forces, we will resort to legitimate and proportionate means... against non-peaceful demonstrators," police said in a statement.

Shortly afterward, Lebanese television appeared to show a tank moving into the area. The Red Cross, which dispatched 21 ambulances and 100 paramedics, said it transported eight people to hospital and had treated dozens more on site.

Thousands of Lebanese gathered to mark the first anniversary of the catastrophic Beirut port blast which killed at least 214 people, wounded thousands and was felt in Cyprus, more than 240 km (150 miles) away.

As the crowds built in Beirut, two people were injured in scuffles between supporters of rival parties in the nearby Gemmayzeh area, a security source said. Gunshots were fired into the air.

Survivors and relatives of blast victims carried flags and portraits of the dead, as prayers and mournful tunes rang out amid a mix of grief and anger.

Shortly after 6 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2020, a stock of ammonium nitrate fertilizer haphazardly stored at the city's port exploded and left swathes of the Lebanese capital looking like a war zone.

One year on, no senior official has been held to account. A local investigation has yet to yield major arrests or even identify a culprit, with political leaders widely accused of obstructing justice.

"We will not forget and we will not forgive them ever. And if they can't bring them to account, we will by our own hands," said Hiyam al-Bikai, dressed in black and clutching a picture of her son, Ahmad, who was killed when masonry fell on his car.

The chemicals arrived on a Russian-leased cargo ship that made an unscheduled stop in Beirut in 2013. An FBI report seen by Reuters last week estimated around 552 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded, far less than the 2,754 tons that arrived.

"Justice isn't just the demand of the families of the victims but of all Lebanese," Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, Lebanon's most senior Christian cleric, said during the memorial service. All immunities should be lifted, he added. "We want to know who brought in the explosives..., who allowed for their unloading and storage, who removed quantities of it and where it was sent," he said.

The damage is still visible across much of Beirut. The port resembles a bomb site, its huge grain silo still unrepaired. A huge banner on a building overlooking the port said: "Hostages of a Murderous State."

Relatives of the dead clutched photos of their loved ones. Army helicopters flew overhead giving off red and green smoke – the national colors – as verses from the Quran were recited at the start of the service and the victims' names were read.

'Historic and moral failure'

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released this week concluded that evidence suggested some Lebanese officials knew about and tacitly accepted the lethal risks posed by ammonium nitrate.

Reuters reported last August that Prime Minister Hassan Diab and President Michel Aoun were both warned in July last year that the chemicals posed a security risk and could destroy the capital if they exploded.

Aoun has said he is ready to testify if needed, and that he supports an impartial investigation. Diab, who quit after the blast, has said his conscience is clear.

Leading prayers at a hospital that was badly damaged in the blast, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi said nobody was above the law, and "whoever obstructs justice is a criminal, even if they are highly placed."

At the time of the explosion, the Lebanese people were already facing deepening hardship due to the financial crisis caused by decades of state corruption and waste.

The meltdown worsened throughout the last year with the governing elite failing to establish a new cabinet to start tackling the crisis even as poverty has soared and medicines and fuel have run out.

A donors' conference hosted by France raised $370 million. France has led Western pressure on Lebanese leaders to enact reforms, but to no avail. "Lebanese leaders seem to bet on a stalling strategy, which I regret and I think is a historic and moral failure," President Emmanuel Macron said.

Pope Francis wished Macron success and said donors should help Lebanon "on a path of resurrection." He said he had a great desire to visit Lebanon, where many had lost "even the illusion of living."

The state has taken no steps towards reforms that might ease the economic crisis, with the sectarian elite locked in a power struggle over cabinet posts.