Beirut, April 28 (BNA): The Lebanese Council of Ministers has ordered the military court to investigate the capsizing of a migrant boat after it collided with a navy ship during a pursuit, killing at least six and leaving dozens missing.
The boat carrying Lebanese and Syrian migrants sank off the coast near the poor northern city of Tripoli on Saturday night. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said about 80 people were on board the ship, including men, women and children, Reuters reported.
45 were rescued and six bodies recovered.
Information Minister Ziad Makari announced the investigation and also said Lebanon would seek international help to rescue the wreck.
Lebanon is in the midst of an economic meltdown that has plunged a large segment of the population into poverty, which has led to an increasing number of people attempting a perilous sea voyage towards Europe, mostly via Cyprus.
Many of those on board were from Tripoli, where funeral processions for six victims turned into manifestations of public anger at the authorities.
Several survivors said that a Lebanese military boat rammed the migrants’ boat, causing it to sink.
The army said the boat left the Lebanese coast illegally and that the boat’s captain was trying to evade capture when the collision occurred.
The Lebanese military court is staffed by members of the army, and observers have raised concerns in the past about its independence.
Army Commander Joseph Aoun, Head of Military Intelligence and Commander of the Lebanese Navy, attended the cabinet session on Tuesday and gave a “detailed presentation of the facts of what happened to the ship,” according to a tweet from the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic.
She said Prime Minister Najib Mikati, a billionaire from Tripoli, has “great confidence in the army leadership, and we are confident that it is keen to preserve the lives of all Lebanese and the credibility of the investigations.”