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Nearly 90 dead in the sinking of a migrant boat off the coast of Syria

2022-09-24T16:16:06.276Z


According to the Syrian authorities, around 150 people, mainly Lebanese and Syrian and Palestinian refugees, were on board the small boat that sank.


Twelve new bodies were recovered on Saturday, September 24, bringing to 89 the number of corpses recovered since the sinking last Thursday off the Syrian coast of a boat carrying migrants departing from Lebanon, according to official Syrian media.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, deplored "

a new tragedy

" after this shipwreck, among the deadliest in the eastern Mediterranean.

"

There are 89 dead while 14 people are recovering in Al-Basel Hospital, two of them in intensive care

," said Iskandar Ammar, an official at Al-Basel Hospital in the Syrian city of Tartous ( west), quoted by the Sana press agency.

A previous report from the Syrian authorities on Friday reported 77 dead.

Mainly Lebanese on board

According to Syrian authorities, around 150 people, mostly Lebanese and Syrian and Palestinian refugees, were on board the small boat that sank off the port city of Tartous.

The search continues to try to find possible survivors, several people are still missing.

The Lebanese army reported the arrest of a Lebanese who "

admitted to having organized

" this journey "

which was to end in Italy by sea

".

Lebanon has increasingly become a departure point for illegal migrant boats since the start of a serious economic and financial crisis in 2019.

Ten children who drowned

Ten children are among the castaways, said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In Lebanon, the families of the victims were burying their loved ones, whose bodies were repatriated from neighboring Syria.

In the city of Tripoli, hundreds of people took part in the funeral of one of the victims, shaking their fists in the air, while relatives wept as they carried a makeshift coffin through the streets.

Many passengers come from poor areas of northern Lebanon, including Tripoli, which has become a hub for illegal immigration in the Mediterranean, especially for Syrian refugees, but also more and more Lebanese.

According to the UN, at least 38 boats carrying more than 1,500 people left or attempted to leave Lebanon illegally by sea between January and November 2021.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-09-24

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