TRIPOLI (AFP) – Two migrants died and another 200 were rescued Saturday when their boat sank off Lebanon’s northern coast, from where increasing numbers make the risky journey to flee a collapsed economy.
An AFP correspondent in the impoverished port city of Tripoli said men, women and children were on board the vessel when it got into difficulty.
“Three naval ships, accompanied by another from UNIFIL (the UN mission in Lebanon), arrived at the site... off Selaata and personnel saved some 200 people,” the army said on Twitter.
A separate tweet said two people had died.
Earlier, the army said a naval patrol had been dispatched to rescue the vessel packed with people attempting to “illegally leave Lebanese waters.”
On Twitter, UNIFIL confirmed it was assisting the Lebanese Navy “in search and rescue operation at sea between Beirut & Tripoli where a boat in distress with a large number of people on board was found.”
Dozens of relatives of those rescued streamed into Tripoli port to await their return to shore, AFP’s correspondent said.
In late September around 100 migrants died when their boat sank after departing from Lebanon, in one of the deadliest such episodes.
Migrants departing from Lebanon head for Europe, with one of the main destinations being Cyprus, only 175 kilometers (110 miles) away.
The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR has said at least 1,570 individuals, including 186 Lebanese nationals, had embarked or tried to embark on illicit sea journeys from Lebanon between January and November 2021.