A bus carrying a number of Syrian nationals flipper over after being chased by the Lebanese Army in Akkar, northern Lebanon, for attempting to illegally cross into Lebanon. (Credit: Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT—A bus carrying clandestine Syrian migrants attempting to illegally enter Lebanon through a border crossing in Akkar, northern Lebanon, overturned and crashed early Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring several others as it was being pursued by the Lebanese army, reported our correspondent.
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, the Lebanese army reported that, during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, while a patrol "attempted to arrest 16 Syrians aboard a vehicle after they had illegally entered Lebanese territory at Cheikh-Lar, in Akkar, the driver tried to flee, causing the vehicle to overturn." The army confirmed the death of the driver and one of the passengers, adding that other passengers had been hospitalized.
Earlier in the day, our correspondent indicated that a "force from the army's Border Regiment was pursuing the bus carrying 13 people, including 12 Syrian nationals who had infiltrated Lebanon through one of the illegal border crossing points at the mouth of the Nahr al-Kabir river." During the pursuit on the Menjez road, the driver lost control of the vehicle, which overturned in the middle of the road, injuring all inside.
Six Lebanese Red Cross ambulances arrived at the scene to provide care and transport the injured to hospitals, our correspondent continued. The bus driver, from Machta Hamoud (Akkar), was killed when the vehicle overturned. A Syrian national onboard was also killed, and another was critically injured and is in critical condition. The latter was hospitalized in Halba. Eight other people were injured and are receiving medical treatment.
Lebanon had 784,884 Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as of the end of December 2023. The official estimate, however, is about 1.5 million Syrians, including those not registered with the UNHCR.
Lebanese politicians across the spectrum regularly call for the immediate repatriation of Syrian refugees, whom they partly blame for the country's economic crisis. They believe that conditions in Syria now allow for such a return, while the U.N. and other human rights groups warn that this is not the case.
Additional reporting by Michel Hallak.