Tripoli [Libya], November 16 (ANI): At least four people have died after two boats carrying migrants and asylum seekers capsized off Libya’s coast, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Libyan Red Crescent. The incident occurred off the coastal city of Al-Khums on Thursday night.
The first boat, carrying 26 people from Bangladesh, saw four fatalities. The second boat carried 69 people, including two Egyptians and dozens of Sudanese, although their exact fate was not specified. Eight of those on board were children. Al-Khums is located approximately 118 kilometers (73 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli.
Volunteers provided first aid to survivors, and pictures released by the Red Crescent showed bodies in black plastic bags laid out on the floor, while rescued individuals were wrapped in thermal blankets. The Libyan Red Crescent stated that coastguards and the Al-Khums Port Security Agency participated in the rescue operation, adding that the bodies were handed over to the relevant authorities “based on instructions by the city’s public prosecution.”
Libya has become a major transit route for migrants and asylum seekers fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe since the 2011 fall of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, according to Al Jazeera. On Wednesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that at least 42 migrants went missing and were presumed dead after a rubber boat sank near the Al Buri oilfield, an offshore facility north-northwest of the Libyan coast.
In mid-October, authorities recovered 61 bodies of migrants on the coast west of Tripoli. In September, the IOM said at least 50 people died after a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off Libya’s coast.
At a United Nations meeting in Geneva last week, several states, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Norway, and Sierra Leone, urged Libya to close detention centers where rights groups report that migrants and refugees have been “tortured, abused and sometimes killed.” (ANI)
About The Author
