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LEBANON

Two killed by fire in Syrian refugee camp in Arsal

The Lebanese Civil Defense extinguished the rapidly spreading flames in the camp, located between houses in the al-Shafaq neighborhood of Arsal. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Two killed by fire in Syrian refugee camp in Arsal

Smoke rises over an informal Syrian refugee camp in Arsal, Lebanon, Feb. 27, 2023. (Courtesy of: Sarah Abdallah)

BEIRUT — A mother and her five-year-old son were killed Tuesday morning in a fire that broke out in a Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese border village of Arsal, in the Bekaa Valley, according to Baalbeck-Hermel governor Bachir Khodr and the state-run National News Agency.


"We are sorry for the fire in the refugee camp in al-Shafaq, in the village of Ersal, which claimed two victims, a mother and her son, and we offer our condolences to their relatives," the governor wrote on Twitter.

The two victims are Basma Alaa al-Youssef and Ayham Bashar al-Youssef, according to L’Orient Today's correspondent in the region. According to NNA, the mother was aged 31, and her son five.

The Lebanese Civil Defense extinguished the rapidly spreading flames in the camp, located between houses in the al-Shafaq neighborhood of Arsal. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Some nearby houses were also damaged, our correspondent reported.

In recent years, several fires have taken place in refugee camps in Lebanon, where the informal nature of such settlements means they are not properly regulated for safety standards. The fires are often sparked by faulty electrical wiring or the use of stoves for heating during the winter months.


Reporting contributed by Sarah Abdallah

BEIRUT — A mother and her five-year-old son were killed Tuesday morning in a fire that broke out in a Syrian refugee camp in the Lebanese border village of Arsal, in the Bekaa Valley, according to Baalbeck-Hermel governor Bachir Khodr and the state-run National News Agency.نأسف للحريق الذي شب في مخيم الشفق للنازحين في #عرسال الذي ذهب ضحيته...