61 Persons Dead After Boat Carrying Migrants Sinks Off Syria
At least 61 people killed after a boat carrying migrants and refugees capsizes off Syrian coast, Lebanese government says.
Tish
Dozens of people have also died after a boat carrying migrants and refugees from Lebanon capsized off Syria’s coast, according to Syrian and Lebanese governments. On Friday, the Lebanese transport minister said that 61 people had died in the Thursday’s disaster. The Syrian government had previously said that 20 survivors were
being treated in Basel hospital in Tartous. The Syrian transport ministry cited survivors as saying the boat left from Lebanon’s northern Minyeh region on Tuesday with between 120 and 150 people onboard. Samer Qubrusli, the Syrian director general of ports, said that search operations were ongoing on Friday. He had previously
said that rough seas and strong winds had made the rescue operation difficult. The incident is one of the deadliest since a surging number of Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians have tried to flee crisis-hit Lebanon by sea to Europe. In Lebanon alone, tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs and the Lebanese pound has
dropped more than 90 percent of its value, eradicating the purchasing power of thousands of families that now live in extreme poverty. Tartous Governor Abdulhalim Khalil reportedly visited survivors at the hospital. It was not immediately clear how many people were on board and where exactly were they heading, but the coastguard
is still searching for bodies. State media said the boat was carrying people of different nationalities. Thousands of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians have left Lebanon on boats over the past months seeking better opportunities in Europe. Lebanon has a population of six million, including one million Syrian refugees, and has
been in the grips of a severe economic meltdown since late 2019 that has pulled more than three-quarters of the population into poverty. In April, a boat carrying dozens of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians trying to migrate by sea to Italy went down more than 5km (3 miles) from the port of Tripoli, following a confrontation with the Lebanese navy. Dozens were killed in the incident.
Migrants have also been leaving the country from the northern Lebanese coast which is most impoverished region in the small country. On the Thursday, Lebanese officials said naval forces rescued a boat carrying 55 migrants and refugees after it faced technical problems 11km (6 nautical miles) off the coast of the northern region of Akkar. It said the people rescued included two pregnant women and two children.
