In the northwestern city of Tripoli, mourning for the victims of the boat that drowned yesterday outside Tripoli, with dozens on board, including children, an atmosphere of tension and fury pervades.

In Tripoli, a number of protestors held a sit-in in front of the residence of the Minister of the Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, in protest at the sinking of the boat, and the road in front of his house was closed off, with the protesters threatening “serious escalation.”

Tensions are rising between the relatives of the victims and the Lebanese army in the Rifa region and the surroundings of the government hospital in Tripoli.

On the other hand, a clash erupted between the army and the people at Tripoli’s port after the people attempted to prevent Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Minister of Social Affairs, Hector Hajjar, from completing his press statement. People hurled obscenities and screamed at him and the officials.

The military medical facility was entirely demolished by a swarm of enraged demonstrators.

Tension and fury are high in the al-Qubba neighborhood, and a number of young men are blocking roads with burning tires, particularly in the Rifa and al-Bakkar areas.

These tensions arose when a boat carrying hundreds of passengers capsized off the coast of Tripoli last night after colliding with a coast patrol boat.