THOUSANDS of Palestinians held prayers on a small football pitch in a refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Saturday, to mourn one of the scores of people who died after their boat sank off Syria’s coast this week, even as others vowed to undertake the same perilous voyage.

Abdul al-Abdul, 24, kissed his father goodbye on Tuesday before boarding a crowded boat leaving from a nearby town seeking a better life in Europe.

It was his 14th attempt to flee the crisis-hit Mediterranean country, this time ending with the return of his dead body.