The families of the victims of the boat that sank off the coast of Tripoli and the Al-Dandashi clan held a press conference at the Al-Dandashi home in Al-Quba. Jihad Al-Dandashi opened the meeting by demanding that officials "recover the boat as quickly as possible," warning of "taking escalatory steps."
He also called for "a transparent investigation and accountability for those responsible for the sinking of the boat," hoping that "all politicians refrain from exploiting the blood of the victims for political or electoral gains."
Hamza Darbas Al-Dandashi spoke on behalf of the family and the victims' families, stating: "The upcoming parliamentary elections do not concern the Al-Dandashi clan or the families of the victims. I call on the three leaders and the army commander to work quickly to recover the bodies before they decompose, and to punish the perpetrator who is now known by everyone. As a family and as the families of the victims, we reject any political exploitation for electoral interests."
He expressed surprise at "the silence of the state and most politicians," stating: "To honor the dead, they must be buried. Since the beginning of this tragedy, we have not seen any serious action. We are surprised that the UN coordinator offered the Lebanese state the possibility of seeking assistance from donor countries to recover the boat and the bodies of our children, and received no response from the relevant authorities. Hence, we ask what is the reason for this obscurity, negligence, and procrastination? We hoped and expected the government would form a crisis cell or a joint operations room to resolve this issue quickly and transparently and to soothe the hearts of the families of the missing."
He added: "There has been no response or initiative; therefore, we had to take an individual initiative to recover the bodies. We hired cameras capable of reaching depths of 500 meters to locate where the boat sank, and we will carry out the recovery at the expense of the victims' families alone."
He concluded: "Our meeting with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun was positive, and we were assured on the judicial front. He confirmed to us that the case is under his personal attention and care, and it will not rest or finalize until it reaches a happy conclusion and sanctions are imposed on the perpetrators."
