Lebanon: Boat capsizes near coast of Tripoli killing one, 27 missing

(Agencies): One child was killed and 27 others missing after a boat carrying 60 irregular migrants capsized off the coast of the Lebanese city of Tripoli, according to the Lebanese Red Cross on Saturday. 

“The boat, 60 people on board, sank. For the people, the Lebanese Red Cross has sent seven ambulances to the port of Tripoli,” it said on Twitter.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that one girl was killed and 27 others were missing while naval forces rescued the remaining migrants.

“Forty-five people have been rescued and the corpse of one child” has been retrieved from the boat that sank near the coast of the northern city of Tripoli, Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamie told a local broadcaster.

The boat left from the Qalamoun area, south of Tripoli.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said the boast capsized shortly after leaving the northern coastal town of Qalamoun near Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city. Tripoli is Lebanon’s most impoverished city.

Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said later that the number of migrants rescued rose to 45 while efforts to find 14 others continue.

In a separate incident on Saturday night, a Tunisian security official told Reuters that at least 12 African refugees had died and another 10 were missing after four boats carrying 120 people sank off the Tunisian coast.

Ali Aayar, a lieutenant colonel in the Tunisian coastguard, added that 98 people were rescued off the coast of Sfax.

[Photo: Lebanese forces stand guard as Lebanese people wait to hear from their relatives at Tripoli port after the boat carrying 60 irregular migrants sank off the Lebanese city of Tripoli on April 23, 2022. Photojournalist :Ahmed Saleh/AA]

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