More Bodies Found from Ship Sinking Near Lebanon
The death toll from last week”s sinking of a ship off the coast of Lebanon would likely reach 43, Syrian and Lebanese port officials said Wednesday.
Twenty-six people were still missing and presumed dead, while 17 bodies have been found so far, they said.
However, As Safir daily said Thursday that the Syrian navy found two more bodies overnight, raising the toll to 19. One of them was identified as an Australian veterinarian.
The Panamanian-flagged cargo ship carrying 83 crew members and thousands of sheep and other livestock capsized on Thursday in stormy waters some 17 kilometers from the Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
Rescuers found 40 survivors in the first hours after the ship sank.
Several of the bodies washed ashore in Syria — some 80 kilometers from where the ship went down, the port officials said.
The ship, identified as the Danny F II, was believed to have been sailing from Uruguay to Syria.
The crew members were from Britain, Australia, Russia Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Uruguay, Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.
One British crew member has been confirmed dead; the other Briton”s fate is unknown, said Nicola Dazies, a political officer at the British Embassy in Beirut. She did not identify them.
In Lebanon, five army navy ships left Tripoli port Monday to continue the search.
U.N. peacekeeping troops have stopped search and rescue operations, spokesman Andrea Tenenti said.