2 dead in Lebanon as snowstorm batters Mideast

A Syrian man and a young boy died in Lebanon as a rare snowstorm today battered parts of the Middle East, adding to the misery of war refugees from Syria.
The bodies of the two Syrians, including the six-year-old boy, were found in the Shebaa region of south Lebanon, the Red Cross said.
A security source told AFP they were refugees crossing the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon, where temperatures plunged as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius (20 Fahrenheit).
State National News Agency reported a third person had died in the mountains apparently of exposure, but there was no immediate confirmation as a Red Cross source said heavy snow was hampering search operations.

The deaths came as a major storm struck the Middle East, hitting Syrian refugees living in makeshift camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
Many refugees in Lebanon were trapped in their tents by snow, struggling to stay warm in temperatures hovering around zero degrees.
The UN's refugee agency distributed cash and fuel coupons to over 80,000 refugee families ahead of the storm, which forced the closure of all Lebanese ports and briefly shut Beirut's international airport. Schools stayed closed today.
In Majdalun, close to the eastern town of Baalbek, around 40 tents were cut off from surrounding villages by a thick layer of snow, an AFP photographer said.