Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says a fishing boat that was illegally carrying eight Syrian refugees to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus has capsized.
The report says the incident occurred on Monday off the northern Lebanese town of Chekka. It says that Lebanon's navy detained three of the Syrians when they returned to the coast and that the other five are still missing.
Lebanon is host to the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, with about 1 million Syrians — or nearly a quarter of the small Arab country's population.
In September, a child drowned after a boat carrying 39 migrants hoping to reach Cyprus capsized off the northern Lebanese coast.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
