Number of victims of migrant boat sinking rises to 89

Director General of Al-Basel Hospital in Tartous Iskandar Ammar on Saturday announced that the number of the victims of Lebanese boat that sank off the Syrian coast in Tartous province has reached 89, pointing out that this death toll is not final as more corpses continue to be found during the rescue operations.

He added that 14 rescued people are receiving treatment at the hospital; two of them are in intensive care.

Ammar explained that after receiving all necessary medical services, six of the survivors left the hospital to their homes as they get better and become in a stable health condition, while the rest stayed as they need more treatment.

According to Ammar, the process of handing over the corpses to the families of the victims continues after they recognize them.

Earlier in the day, Director General of Syrian Ports Samer Qubresly said that the number of the victims of boat sinking incident reached 86 after finding more corpses this morning.

The migrant boat started sailing last Tuesday from the Lebanese coastal area of Al-Minya in Tripoli with 150 migrants of different nationalities on board. The boat was heading towards Cyprus.

Hamda Mustafa