Beyond the Headlines: the desperation that drove migrants from Lebanon to death at sea

Late one Saturday night towards the end of April, a boat set out to sea from the coast near Lebanon’s second city, Tripoli. It was an ageing craft, nearly 50 years old, built to hold maybe a dozen people, at a push. But on this voyage it was carrying perhaps 60, possibly as many as 80.

Among those on board were Amid Dandachi, his wife and their three children. In all, about 22 members of the extended Dandachi family were on the boat. The family are from the suburb of Qibbe, one of Tripoli’s poorest neighbourhoods. And Tripoli is one of Lebanon’s poorest cities. With Lebanon in the midst of an economic crisis, the family hoped that heading west would offer them a better future

But only an hour or two after they left shore, the boat was intercepted. Lebanese naval forces demanded it turn back. Mr Dandachi said the boat’s helmsman tried to make a break for it but the navy crashed into the overcrowded craft towards the bow, splitting the hull. At least six people died and approximately 30 are still missing.

On this week's Beyond The Headlines, Finbar Anderson looks at the tragedy of the shipwreck off Tripoli, and how it is an all too familiar fate for thousands trying to reach a better life in Europe.

Funeral of the victims of boat sinking in Lebanon — in pictures

A relative carries the coffin of a woman who died when an inflatable boat sank off the Lebanese port of Tripoli, at her funeral in the city. Reuters

A man carries the body of a young girl who died when the boat sank, as a mourner fires in the air during the funeral procession. AP Photo

Waves were said to have submerged the overloaded boat shortly after it left the coastal town of Qalamoun. Reuters

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said the boat was carrying at least 84 people, many times its capacity. AP Photo

Women lament those drowned in the accident. According to the Lebanese Navy, 45 people were rescued and seven bodies found. EPA

Mourners at the funeral of one of the victims. Lebanese have sought to escape their country's financial woes by trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. EPA

Mourners at the funeral of one of the victims in Tripoli. Reuters