Atleast 61 people killed after a boat carrying migrants and refugees capsizes off Syrian coast, on Thursday 22nd September says Lebanese government.
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.
According to state media the boat was carrying people of different nationalities.
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.
The Syrian government had previously said that 20 survivors were being treated in Basel hospital in Tartous.
Tartous Governor Abdulhalim Khalil has reportedly visited survivors at the hospital.
Samer Qubrusli, the Syrian director general of ports, said 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.
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.
Thousands of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians have travel by boat over the past months seeking better opportunities in Europe.
