Lebanese army soldiers aboard a ship off the coast to monitor the search operations for the victims of the sinking, Aug. 22, 2022. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army on Wednesday afternoon released a video showing the launching of the Indian submarine “Blue Whale” in the believed direction of a migrant boat that sank on April 23 off the coast of Tripoli, North Lebanon, reporting that the submarine has arrived at the sinking site is carrying out its mission 6 nautical miles from the shore.
Here’s what we know:
• Intended at extracting the bodies of some 30 people who are believed to still be trapped in the boat, the submarine search operation was postponed Monday and Tuesday due to bad weather conditions after it started in the morning, the Lebanese Army had announced.
• According to Col. Fadi Abou Eid, the submarine, which arrived in Lebanon last Wednesday, will dive at a depth of 470 meters, bearing in mind that the Lebanese Navy commander Col. Haytham Dennaoui said Monday that the submarine can reach a depth of 2,180 meters, adding that the navy has created an operation room to closely follow the operation. Dennaoui stressed that “this mission will continue for several days, depending on the results.” He called on citizens to stay away from the search area.
• Nearly 85 passengers boarded a smuggler boat last April, heading for Europe, to escape the economic crisis in Lebanon. The ship was intercepted by the army about 5.5 kilometers off the Lebanese coast, but there are two conflicting versions as to the cause of the sinking. The army claims that the boat sank because of the overload of passengers on board. The survivors, on the other hand, claim that the military boat purposely collided with the boat. Among the passengers, about 40 people are believed to have died, among those whose bodies were recovered and those still missing.