An image of the sunken migrant boat, shared via the Lebanese Army Twitter page.
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The submarine search operation at the wreck site of a makeshift migrant boat found the remains of at least seven passengers on Friday, with one of the lawyers for the victims’ families telling L’Orient-Le Jour on Sunday that 11 bodies had been located. An Army spokesperson had told L'Orient Today earlier on Friday that the Army intends to re-float the wrecked vessel to retrieve any bodies or objects still inside. The Australian charity AusRelief, which is collaborating with the Lebanese Navy, announced on Aug. 17 that they had chartered the Indian-owned submarine “Blue Whale” as it made its way to the coast of Tripoli, North Lebanon to recover the victims of the shipwreck. On April 23, a smuggler boat carrying nearly 85 passengers sank after being intercepted by the Lebanese Army. Survivors said their boat was hit by the Army’s boat, which the Army denied. Some 40 people aboard the migrant vessel are believed to have died, the majority of whom have yet to be recovered from the sea.
President Michel Aoun’s office announced in a statement Saturday his commitment to the “presidential deadline” as the end of his term approaches, three days before the constitutional start of the two-month-long presidential race. The statement also denounced campaigns conducted by “some politicians and media aimed at stirring sectarian strife,” amid fears of a presidential vacuum as Lebanon remains without a Cabinet months after the May 15 parliamentary elections. Hezbollah parliamentary bloc head MP Mohammad Raad said earlier the same day that the “presidential battle” would deal with opposing sides of those “who respect” and those “who want to harm” sovereignty, while yesterday the party’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah discussed “developments in Palestine, Lebanon and in the region” with number two of Hamas' political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri. Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil has meanwhile exchanged hostile statements with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati over delays in government formation. Bassil also feuded with political rival Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea, another potential candidate for the presidency. Geagea has called for a president who is “defiant” to the ruling majority. The Forces of Change MPs also met earlier this month to discuss their strategy and contenders for the presidential election. On Friday, former Secretary General of the High Council for Privatization and Partnerships (HCPP) Ziad Hayek announced his presidential candidacy.
Passengers aboard a Middle East Airlines flight that departed Beirut for London's Heathrow Airport on Friday afternoon were “trapped in a small room” for 12 hours after a technical problem resulted in a forced emergency landing in Athens, one passenger told L’Orient Today. The flight to Heathrow was officially canceled after the plane deviated from its course to land in Athens. A passenger claimed radio silence from MEA at the time as the crew of the plane “disappeared” from the scene following the emergency landing. The airline has not issued a statement on the incident and could not be reached by L’Orient Today. The passengers reached London Saturday morning after having been reassigned to another aircraft. MEA faced controversy earlier this month when one of its planes was briefly escorted over Greece by military jets after failing to check in with Greek airspace authorities.
Residents of Ain Zhalta and Nabeh al-Safa blocked a main road linking the Chouf and Aley districts on Saturday to protest shortages of government-supplied water in their areas. The protesters held the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Establishment responsible for the shortages and threatened to escalate their demonstration. UNICEF warned in July 2021 that 71 percent of the Lebanese population could suffer from a lack of access to water, even though the country is well endowed with water resources compared to other countries in the region. Residents of some areas in Lebanon claim to have faced year-long water cutoffs while private water supply alternatives become ever more expensive.
Lebanon’s national men’s basketball team is set to play against India for its second game in the second round of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers today after winning against the Philippines on Thursday. The Lebanese team – without Youssef Khayat, who flew to Michigan last week to join the Wolverines as part of the NCAA – defeated the Philippines 85 to 81 in a match played at the Nohad Naufel Stadium in Zouk Mikael near Jounieh. Lebanon came in second last month at the FIBA Asia Cup, losing to Australia by two points.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from over the weekend: “Beirut’s main roads were meant to connect the city. Instead, they divided it”