Lebanon orders military probe into deadly capsizing of refugee boat
Lebanon's government said on Tuesday it was tasking the armed forces with investigating how an overpacked refugee boat capsized on Saturday, an event some survivors have blamed on the military.
At least six people were killed, including a young girl, in the Mediterranean Sea off the northern port city of Tripoli, in the country's deadliest such maritime incident in years.
The circumstances were not entirely clear, with some on board claiming the navy rammed their boat. Officials have insisted traffickers attempted reckless escape manoeuvres.
The government, in an emergency session, "tasked army command with conducting a transparent investigation into the circumstances behind the incident under the supervision of the relevant judicial authority", said Information Minister Ziad Makari.
The announcement came after survivors took to TV stations and social media to accuse the military of insulting passengers aboard the ship, then deliberately cracking its hull.
Public anger
The disaster ignited widespread public anger just weeks before 15 May parliamentary elections in the small country hit by a severe economic crisis in recent years, AFP reported.
The Lebanese armed forces said 48 people were rescued, but it remains unclear exactly how many would-be asylum seekers were crammed onto the boat when it set off.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said the boat was carrying at least 84 people when it capsized about 5.5km off the coast, which would leave some 30 people unaccounted for.
Lebanon was once a transit point for asylum seekers from elsewhere in the Middle East who were hoping to reach the European Union island state of Cyprus, 175km away.
Most of those trying to leave Lebanon by sea are Syrians, but Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis, that has plunged millions into poverty, is driving growing numbers of its citizens to also attempt the perilous crossing.
Tripoli has become the departure point for a growing number of people attempting a potentially lethal sea escape.
The UN says more than 1,500 people have tried to leave Lebanon illegally by sea since the start of 2021.
On Monday, the death toll from boats that sank off Tunisia over the weekend rose to 20 people, a judicial official said.
Seventeen bodies had been recovered at the weekend after four boats carrying 120 African people to Italy capsized off the city of Sfax.
The coastguard recovered three more bodies on Monday, said Mourad Turki, a courts spokesperson in Sfax.
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