REPORT: Survivors of Indonesian boat disaster arrive to Beirut International Airport

          
The 18 survivors of the Indonesian boat tragedy arrived on Sunday morning at around 10 am to the Beirut International Airport.         

Popular and official delegations welcomed the survivors, including an official delegation under the chairmanship of Future Bloc MP Hadi Hobeish representing President Michel Sleiman, Hezbollah MPs Ali Ammar and Bilal Farhat representing Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Future bloc MP Khaled Zahraman.

One of the survivors said he had tried to join the Lebanese Armed Forces for at least 20 times, adding that when his attempts were in vain, he resorted to migration for a better future.     
For his part, caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on the Lebanese state to create job opportunities in order to avoid such disasters, adding that the security apparatuses should pursue the network involved in the illegal migration process.

On Friday September 26, dozens of Lebanese nationals hailing from the town of Akkar were reported dead after a boat carrying them to Australia sank off the coast off Indonesia.           

Preliminary information showed that an Iraqi national known as Abou Salah was in charge of transferring the persons to Indonesia before reaching Australia.             

The boat was headed for Australia's Christmas Island.


For the full report, please click on the VIDEO above