Red Cross and army personnel carrying out rescue efforts after a boat carrying 124 people sank off Tripoli's coast. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Red Cross teams in Tripoli are rescuing 124 Lebanese and Syrian individuals who attempted to informally reach Europe by boat, a health source told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the North on Friday.
"A naval patrol of the army intercepted an illegal human trafficking operation off the coast of Tripoli and successfully rescued 124 illegal migrants of Syrian nationality, including 8 women and 24 children," the army said in a statement on Friday.
"The army leadership has renewed its warning about the dangers of illegal migration, as it poses a grave risk to the lives of migrants, in addition to the legal consequences they may face before the relevant authorities," the statement concluded.
The boat broke down within Lebanese territorial waters off the coast of Tripoli.
According to initial reports, the boat departed from Akkar's coastline Thursday night.
No additional information regarding potential victims was available.
In September, tens of would-be irregular migrants were rescued from the sea off the coast of Herri, Chekka in North Lebanon after the vessel they were aboard began to sink.
The Internal Security Forces (ISF) led an operation in September resulting in the arrest of a Lebanese smuggler, along with 42 Syrian individuals including six children.
More people attempted life-threatening informal sea journeys from Lebanon to Europe this summer than in the beginning of the year, as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson in Lebanon Lisa Abou Khaled recently told L'Orient Today.
Reporting contributed by Michel Hallak.