Child found dead and 45 people rescued after shipwreck off Lebanon

“Forty-five people were rescued and the body of a child” was recovered from a boat that sank off Tripoli on Saturday (April 23rd), the Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport said. He said that around 60 people were on the boat carrying migrants from Lebanon. “Research continues.”

The Lebanese Red Cross said it had sent 10 ambulances to Tripoli. An AFP correspondent noted that the army had closed the port, allowing only ambulances to enter and return. Families of some passengers gathered to check in, but were denied entry.

Lebanon, a country of about six million people, is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis and, according to the World Bank, of a magnitude usually associated with wars. The currency has lost more than 90% of its purchasing power and the majority of the population lives below the poverty line. According to the UN refugee agency, at least 1,570 people, including 186 Lebanese, left or attempted to leave Lebanon illegally by sea between January and November 2021.