Lebanon's Prosecutor General Ghassan Oweidat has pressed charges against 25 people, including senior port and customs officials and security officers, over the massive Beirut port blast that killed 172 people, a judicial source told Reuters on Friday.

It was not immediately clear what the exact charges were. Legal sources said the suspects would now be referred to a criminal court to be tried.

The judicial source said 19 of them were detained following the Aug. 4 explosion at a warehouse that Lebanese authorities said housed highly-explosive material for years which detonated. 

On Thursday, Lebanon's parliament approved a two-week state of emergency in Beirut that grants sweeping powers to the army.

Last week's deadly explosion that killed 171 people and wounded 6,500 has reignited street protests demanding the ousting of the entire political elite.

Dozens of demonstrators shouted as lawmakers arrived at parliament to ratify the emergency measure, but protesters were outnumbered by security forces and failed to block the MPs' cars.