Report: Deaths among Drivers of Bekaa Trucks at Syria-Jordan Border

Several drivers of refrigerated trucks transporting goods from Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley were killed and injured after they came under fire during battles between the Syrian army and rebels at the Syrian-Jordanian border.

The head of the Bekaa Farmers Gathering, Ibrahim Tarshishi, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Tuesday that there were deaths and injuries among the drivers of trucks at the Nasib crossing.

Several of the trucks were engulfed in flames, he said.

There were around 250 Lebanese and Syrian lorries in the area when the battles started, he added.

Tarshishi called on the Lebanese Customs to stop trucks from entering Syria through Lebanon's Masnaa crossing pending a solution to the situation on the Syrian-Jordanian border.

An Nahar newspaper quoted a source as saying that the drivers are stuck inside the customs area at the Nasib crossing and can't leave it because of the intensity of the fighting between the Syrian army and the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The source said a Syrian driver was killed in the clashes.

G.K.

H.K.