BEIRUT (Anadolu/AFP) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has declared a national mourning day on Monday for the victims of a boat that capsized off Lebanon’s coast.
“[Lebanese] flags hoisted on all state administrations, official institutions and municipalities will be flown at half-staff and regular programs on radio and television stations will be modified in accordance with the painful occasion,” Mikati’s office said in a statement on Sunday.
According to the statement, Mikati asked the head of the country’s Higher Relief Commission, Mohammad Khair, to provide needed support and assistance for the bereaved families.
At least six people died, including a little girl, and almost 50 others were rescued after a migrant boat capsized off Lebanon, state media said, in the latest tragedy at sea off the crisis-hit country.
The boat capsized on Saturday night near the northern port city of Tripoli, the departure point for a growing number of people attempting a potentially lethal sea escape.
The deadly accident, weeks ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15, is not the first of its kind for the crisis-hit country grappling with its worst-ever financial crash.
But it marks a grim reminder of the suffering behind a growing number of people, including Lebanese nationals and Syrian refugees, risking their lives at sea in search of a better future abroad.
“The army’s naval forces managed to rescue 48 people and retrieve the body of a dead girl... from a boat that sank while trying to illegally smuggle them out,” the army said in a statement.
It said the boat that sailed out of the Qalamoun region south of Tripoli capsized because of overcrowding and high water levels that nearly flooded the vessel.
“Most people on board were rescued,” the army said, without specifying their nationalities or how many remained missing.
“Sea, land and aerial operations are ongoing to rescue those who remain missing,” it said.