Livestock Ship Carrying More Than 80 Sailors Sinks Off Tripoli Coast
Lebanese and UNIFIL rescuers were trying to save around 80 sailors on Thursday after their boat capsized in stormy weather off Tripoli”s coast, officials said.
The Panamanian-flagged ship Danny Two, which was transporting livestock, overturned some 11 nautical miles off the port of Tripoli at around 7:30 pm, the officials said.
Lebanese navy rescue boats, including a medical team, rushed to the reported scene of the disaster along with three vessels from UNIFIL.
"Three maritime task force ships, one Italian and two German, were dispatched about 10 nautical miles off the coast of Tripoli after the Lebanese navy received a distress call from a Panamanian-flagged ship," UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP.
"Preliminary information indicates the ship sank with 83 people aboard."
A port official in Tripoli told AFP some 90 minutes after the accident that at least 20 sailors had been rescued, 16 of them by a Syrian ship.
The state-run National News Agency reported that the Lebanese navy managed to rescue 4 sailors.
Ambulances were seen rushing out of Tripoli”s port area to nearby hospitals.
The port official said many of the stricken ship”s crew members were from the Philippines and Pakistan. There were also at least one Lebanese and one Syrian on board.
There was confusion as to where the Danny Two had sailed from and its final destination.
Thursday”s accident came as severe thunderstorms lashed Lebanon, causing heavy flooding in some parts of the country and widespread damage.
A Togolese-flagged ship also sank off the southern coast of Lebanon last week. Several crew members were rescued by Israel but a number are still missing.