In the Tripoli’s port the Lebanon’s public works and transport minister Ali Hamie visited after the latest incident and called it a “great catastrophe”.
On Saturday night a boat had flipped near the northern port city of Tripoli, Libya, the departure points for a growing number of people attempting to escape the potentially deadly sea. The fatal crash is not the first of its kind in this difficult time of the country, where the country is battling with its worst financial crash ever, just few weeks before the parliamentary elections to be held on May 15.
But it also serves as a grim reminder of the suffering behind the growing number of people risking their lives at sea in search of a better future abroad, including Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees. On this an army said in a statement that, “The army’s naval forces managed to rescue 48 people and retrieve the body of a dead girl… from a boat that sank while trying to illegally smuggle them out”.
But it also serves as a grim reminder of the suffering behind the growing number of people risking their lives at sea in search of a better future abroad, including Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees.
It said the boat, which had departed from the Kalamoun area south of Tripoli, capsized due to overcrowding and high-water levels which has nearly flooded the vessel. Without mentioning any of people’s nationalities or how many remained missing the army stated that, “Most people on board were rescued. Sea, land and aerial operations are ongoing to rescue those who remain missing”. The army said a man has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a smuggling operation.
Later on, a man said before he fell silent and was carried away by a crowd of relatives of the survivors, “The patrol boat crashed into us twice…to drown us”. In the Tripoli’s port the Lebanon’s public works and transport minister Ali Hamie visited after the latest incident and called it a “great catastrophe”.
The army said a man has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a smuggling operation.