Lebanese Ministry of Information
A young man, who had been admitted to a south Lebanon hospital after the boat he was on capsized last week, has died, a source confirmed to The Daily Star Wednesday.
Twenty-year-old Syrian national Khalil Ahmad Dakhil was announced dead early Wednesday, after having been in hospital for more than a week, making him the third person to perish due to the boat accident.
Raghida al-Mays, a mother of four in her forties, and her 13-year-old daughter Hoda were announced dead one day after the incident, while Hoda’s twin Hadil remains in intensive care.
The Labib Medical Center in Sidon earlier said that the other five people admitted were in stable condition.
Last week, a skipper lost control of the boat carrying about 20 passengers as it returned to Sidon from the island of Zira.
The crowded boat keeled over, casting all those on board into the water. The incident has shed light on the negligence of boat operators in the local tourism industry.
The public prosecutor for south Lebanon ordered tour boats last week to temporarily halt trips departing from the Sidon port after the incident.
The Directorate General of Land and Maritime Transport later agreed to resume boat tours after it called for increased safety procedures, passenger limits, availability of life jackets, as well as heightened scrutiny from security forces.
