Gunshots were heard on Tuesday night in the districts of Rifa and Qibbeh in Tripoli after the families of the victims of the boat that sank off the coast of Tripoli in April protested on the streets.
In April 2022, a boat crowded with people sank off the coast. They were reportedly headed to Cyprus, in an attempt of illegal emigration, searching for a better life. However, only 48 people survived.
The mourners of the victims of the shipwreck blocked a number of roads in the city, protesting the fact that the authorities did not yet find the missing bodies of dozens of victims. The Civil Defense and the army have only been able to find seven7 bodies.
According to local reports, authorities have promised the victims’ families that a submarine would arrive to search for the bodies but this has not happened yet.
Protests by the families are not unusual. Burdened with grief, they demand that the search be more efficient and quick. They also accuse the Lebanese Army of hitting the boat that sank, but the army’s response is that without their interference, there would have been zero survivors.
Related: Lebanese Cabinet Just Announced Exceptional Session To Look Into Boat Tragedy
