Syrian state television reported on September 25, local time, that 97 people, including women and children, had been killed in the capsize of a Lebanese illegal migrant boat in Syrian waters on the 22nd.
The final death toll is likely to rise further as the search and rescue efforts have not yet been completed.
It is understood that the ship was carrying 120 to 150 illegal immigrants of different nationalities, most of whom held passports from countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
Currently, about 1 million Syrian refugees live in Lebanon.
Since 2019, Lebanon's economy has been in trouble, and it has been hit by the new crown epidemic and the Beirut port explosion. Lebanon's national currency has plummeted, inflation has soared, and there are serious shortages of medicines, fuel and electricity.
Affected by this, the number of people trying to leave Lebanon by sea increased, including a large number of Syrian refugees, Palestinian refugees and Lebanese nationals.
(Headquarters reporter Zhou Xuan)