A large sandstorm hit Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, three of which were refugee women. At least 750 others have been hospitalized due to asphyxiation or shortness of breath, according to the Health Ministry.
Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport meteorological department considers the storm to be "unprecedented" in Lebanon's modern history. Drivers were given instructions by the Beirut's Traffic Management Centre to be more cautious to reduce accidents as road visibility has been significantly reduced.
Hospitals in al-Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour rushed to attend to patients with breathing difficulty when the sandstorm hit the place on Monday.
"That's the worst sandstorm I've ever seen. I couldn't [see an] object just five metres away. Most people stayed indoors," said Hadi al-Abdallah, an activist in the Northern Province of Idlib, according to Al Jazeera.
The Northern Lebanese district of Akkar was hit the hardest, the National News Agency reported.
Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Cyprus have also been affected by the catastrophe, USA Today reported.
The clouds of dust produced a visibility of only 500 meters, and aircrafts in Jordan and Cyprus had to be diverted to Paphos from Larnaca airport.
"We have had sandstorms before, but not of this intensity. It's very rare for this time of year too and it's covering the entire region," said an official from Cypriot metrological office, according to Reuters.
Rami Abdulrahman from the monitoring group said that there were less airtsrikes in Syria, as visibility has been severely reduced.
The dust is expected to dissipate by Thursday, but the Cypriot official added that it will take time for the situation to return to normal, according to Reuters.
