Syrian refugee camp burnt to ground in Lebanon

More than 300 Syrian refugees were forced to flee an informal camp in northern Lebanon as a blaze raged through and burnt tents to the ground, UN and Lebanese officials say.

The fire late Saturday raged for four hours as firefighters tried to put it out, the Lebanese civil defense says.

The fire ensued following a fight between a Lebanese family in al-Miniyeh in the country’s north and Syrians living in the camp, according to Lebanese media reports.

A Lebanese official says the army is investigating the cause of the fire and conducting raids to round up those responsible for the altercation.

Khaled Kabbara, a UN Refugee Agency spokesman in northern Lebanon, says some 375 people lived in the informal settlement that was located on a plot of rented land. He said the entire camp was burnt to the ground.

Kabbara says four people were injured in the fire and hospitalized with minor injuries. He said some residents of the camp returned Sunday to see if anything could be salvaged from the fire.

— AP