Tripoli boat tragedy: Lawyers pessimistic as boat wreckage and victims remain at bottom of the ocean

On 25 August, the submarine tasked with finding and retrieving the boat which sank in tragic circumstances on 23 April 2022, off the coast of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, finally located the vessel, alongside 11 of the drowned victims.

The submarine's captain, Scott Waters, stated that a number of bodies had been found, some still inside the boat and others outside, as well as some clothing and bones. He said the team had photographed the boat from all sides, but clarified that there would be complications in retrieving the bodies, due to the state of advanced decomposition they were in.

Waters said that though the first body found was handled with extreme care, it began to disintegrate as his team attempted to move it, and in the end, they were only able to take fragments of clothing.

"On 25 August, the submarine tasked with finding and retrieving the boat which sank in tragic circumstances on 23 April 2022, off the coast of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, finally located the vessel, alongside 11 of the drowned victims"

The search mission began four months after the tragedy

Captain Waters, alongside Commander of the Lebanese Naval Forces, Col. Haitham Dinnawi, Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi, and Chairman of Ausrelief (the Australian NGO which helped bring the submarine to Lebanon), Tom Zreika, appeared in a joint press conference on Friday 26 August, to present the results obtained in the search mission for the vessel which sank while carrying over 80 passengers, of whom 45 survived.

Dinnawi reported that the vessel had been located one day prior, on Thursday 25 August, at a depth of 459 metres, 130 metres from where it had sunk, according to the navy. However, difficulties had prevented them from its recovery, he said, but new evidence had been placed in the hands of the Lebanese judiciary.

Dinnawi emphasised that the army had been completely transparent regarding the case and had placed itself before the law and at the disposal of the judiciary, and would face accountability according to the results of the investigations. He added that photographs had been taken of the vessel from different sides and had not shown scratches, and the fate of some of those missing had been determined.

MP Rifi stressed: "We will put all our effort into salvaging what can be salvaged and delivering it to the families to soothe a fraction of their pain – they want to salvage any remains of the bodies so they can bury them, read the Fatiha over them and pray over them."

Two goals: Humanitarian and investigative

Rifi explained that there were two goals – the first humanitarian: to locate the boat and try to retrieve it as well as the bodies, and the second investigative: the testimonies have been gathered, but the investigation is relying on all the facts to be presented in order to piece together the circumstances of the incident.

He stressed that the Commander of the Lebanese Army, General Joseph Aoun, was committed to a transparent, serious and objective investigation without any interference, and had asked the crew to photograph the boat from all angles to complete the investigations.

Rifi dismissed accusations against the army, stating that when people are exposed to danger, they may perceive scenes as happening, and then relate them as though they were real, when what really happened was different.

"Several of the families of the victims and survivors accuse the Lebanese army of having deliberately sunk the boat, after intercepting it and ramming it with army boats, and a group of lawyers have filed a judicial complaint against 13 members of the Lebanese army"

Several of the families of the victims and survivors accuse the Lebanese army of having deliberately sunk the boat, after intercepting it and ramming it with army boats, and a group of lawyers have filed a judicial complaint against 13 members of the Lebanese army who were on board the two cruisers who chased the boat. The army has stated that the boat sank as a result of carrying too many people.

Victims' final moments

Lawyer Mohammed Sablouh is representing a number of the victims' families. He said to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister publication: "During its first diving mission the submarine found a body at a distance from the boat, but was only able to retrieve its clothing […] the bodies fall apart as soon as they are disturbed at all. A piece of the clothing has been sent for DNA testing to establish the victim's identity.

"Eleven bodies have been found […] and according to the submarine captain, the photos showed that there were people trying to break the door to get out before they died, including two drowned people who died together holding each other's hands."

Sablouh said he had asked the army command and MP Rifi to ask for assistance from the International Red Cross to benefit from its expertise and see if there were medical materials that could be used on the bodies to preserve them when trying to retrieve them.

"In the photographs, we have seen so far, the boat doesn’t appear to have any cracks in it. But we asked for more photos and video footage of the boat from the bottom to the top, to verify whether there is any trace of a collision or not. This is especially important since the submarine captain spoke about the difficulties there would be in salvaging it, and said it may fall apart during attempts to bring it to the surface, hence the vital importance of photos and video recordings as evidence before the boat is recovered."

Lawyers for families pessimistic

The cost of the submarine – around $US 250,000 – was paid for in donations from Lebanese expatriates in Australia, including Jamal Rifi, brother of Ashraf Rifi after the Lebanese authorities had sought assistance from international organisations to recover the sunken vessel because they did not have the capacity to do so.

🇱🇧 🌊“They died holding each other.”

Lebanese navy and submarine crew find remains of 7 of estimated 30 that drowned in migrant boat sinking last April.https://t.co/vxOTGjdJaq

— Kareem Chehayeb | كريم شهيب (@chehayebk) August 26, 2022

Lawyer Diala Shehadeh, who is representing four survivors, said that she was not optimistic that the investigations would lead to accountability for those responsible, based on how the case has been dealt with from the beginning, as the commander of the naval forces had been "so quick to deny responsibility, while the basic principles of an investigation require at least waiting for the investigation to begin."

She added: "A video which clearly shows someone giving an order to hit the boat was also leaked but no attention has been given to this evidence, and we have seen no accountability, or measures taken against any officer or military member, no one has been detained, and there are other aspects that don't inspire optimism.

"That said, we are committed to the rule of law and demand justice, and we hope that the army commander will fulfil his promise to the families of the victims who he has met, and will hold those responsible – whether officers or soldiers – accountable if they are proven guilty of misconduct."

This is an edited translation of two articles from our Arabic edition. 

The first was published on 19/08/2022 and you can read it here.

The second was published on 26/08/2022 and you can read it here.

Translated by Rose Chacko

These articles were taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirror the sources' original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors.

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