Nine Syrians freeze to death while crossing to Lebanon

Nine Syrians froze to death crossing into Lebanon when an icy storm hit a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria. The military said in a statement that the bodies were found on a people-smuggling route in the early hours of Friday after a snowstorm hit the Masnaa area, where Lebanon's largest official border crossing with Syria is located. The army arrested two Syrians on smuggling charges and is still searching for others lost in the snow, it added. Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency, said at least 13 Syrians were confirmed to have died in the incident. Lebanon took in at least a million refugees at the height of the conflict, but in 2015 the Lebanese government put in place new restrictions in order to curb the number of refugees entering the country.
The bodies of ten Syrian men are found after a snowstorm on the Lebanon–Syria border. The Lebanese Army says they tried to enter Lebanon illegally. Two presumed people smugglers are arrested.