Casualty Toll Rises as Storm Brings more Rain, Snow
The snowstorm that has been lashing Lebanon since Tuesday caused four more casualties over the weekend as municipal workers spread rock salt to open blocked roads.
The state-run National News Agency said that four Bangladeshi workers died in the town of Mrah Sraj in Dinniyeh district from suffocation because of bad heating.
Four of them worked in construction, it said.
Meanwhile, the authorities and municipal workers sought to reopen major roads in the mountains.
Although temperatures will gradually start to rise over the weekend, the Lebanese were warned that the storm could dump more snow and cause more icy roads.
The Meteorology Department said there will be rain in coastal areas and snow at 800 meters above sea level. There will also be strong winds of up to 65 kilometers per hour.
The snow is expected to reach 1,000 meters above sea level on Sunday.
Coastal areas will see lows of 6 degrees Celsius and highs of 13 while the mountains will see lows of -8 and -2.
The snow, which fell in parts of the Middle East in the past days, killed two Syrian refugees in Lebanon and forced thousands who have fled their country's civil war to huddle for warmth in tents in refugee camps.
Syrian shepherd, Ammar Kamel, 30, and a 7-year-old boy, Majed Badawi, died in the storm Wednesday as they made the dangerous trek through the rugged, snow-covered mountains from Syria to the Lebanese border town of Shebaa.
At least two other people reportedly froze to death.
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