At least 86 people have died in a boat crash with migrants off the Syrian coast, Syrian state television reports. Most of them are women, children and teenagers.
The economic crisis in Lebanon, one of the worst in the world since 1850, forced many to leave their native country. Refugees from Palestine and Syria are often present on the ships, as in this case. An overcrowded boat with 150 people on board was heading from Lebanon to Europe and crashed near Tartus.
The first bodies of the dead were found at sea on the night of September 22. The ship departed from Munich in northern Lebanon on Thursday with 120-150 people on board, the Syrian Ministry of Transport said, citing information from survivors. The Syrian Coast Guard has rescued only about twenty, and the search continues for the missing. The father of one of the Lebanese said that his son, in exchange for the opportunity to get to Europe, gave smugglers his apartment in Lebanon. At the moment, all members of his family, except for himself, are dead or missing.
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