"A boat sank with about 60 people on board. The Lebanese Red Cross sent 7 ambulances to the port of Tripoli," it said on Twitter.

According to the state news agency NNA, Lebanese army boats have found eight bodies in the sea off the coast of the northern port city of Tripoli.

“On April 23, 2022, the Naval Forces of the Army managed to rescue 48 people thus far, including a dead little girl, who were on board a boat that sank while trying to smuggle them illegally off Qalamoun's coast in the North as a result of water leakage due to the high waves and the boat's overload,” Lebanese Army Command - Orientation Directorate said in a statement on Sunday.

“Citizen of initials R.M.A. was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the smuggling operation, as investigations began into the incident under the supervision of the concerned judiciary,” it added.

“The efforts to find 14 others continue,” the transportation minister Ali Hamieh said. (ILKHA)