Six people died when a boat capsized off the Lebanese coast of Tripoli overnight, including at least one child, Lebanese transport minister Ali Hamie told Reuters. The small dinghy carrying around 60 people sunk off the coast on Saturday night with both Lebanese and Syrians aboard. Hamie told Reuters that a young girl's body was retrieved on Saturday night and that the army had recovered another five on Sunday morning. The powerful armed group Hezbollah issued its condolences in a statement, where it appealed for people to stay calm. It urged people "to demonstrate a spirit of patience and national responsibility and stay away from acts of violence, sabotage, and damage to internal security and stability."
Lebanon's economic crisis has seen the local currency lose more than 90 percent of its value and pushed waves of Lebanese as well as Syrian refugees to try the dangerous sea journey to Europe on small dinghies. Lebanese citizen Kassem al-Zoeibi, whose relatives had survived the capsize, said they had tried to flee Lebanon out of desperation. "Why did they choose this way? It is because there is no way but this way," he told Reuters. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi expressed her condolences on Sunday and said UN agencies were on the ground to help. "It's horrific to see deprivation still pushing people to take a perilous journey across the seas, sacrificing their lives and that of their children in search of a dignified life," Rochdi posted on Twitter.
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