Due to altercation, Lebanese family sets Syrian refugees' camp on fire

CAIRO – 27 December 2020: An altercation between Syrian workers and a Lebanese family ended up with the latter setting a refugees' camp northern Lebanon on fire in the evening of Saturday, BBC Arabic reported.

The news was confirmed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) but it did not disclose the number of the injured.

The cause of the fight is that the Lebanese family refused paying the Syrian workers the sum of money they asked for. However, there is a possibility the workers harassed a Lebanese woman.

The fire was first set on a number of tents, and later reached butane gas cylinders causing explosions. Authorities reached the camp extinguishing the fire and securing the camp.

Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrians. Of those, one million carry the refugee designation. In November, 270 Syrian families fled northern Lebanon amid tensions that were the outcome of murder allegations against a Syrian national. He was charged of firing a bullet at a Lebanese man.