At least eight migrants have died after their boat – carrying at least 150 migrants – capsized off Libya. The Libyan Red Crescent is still searching for 58 others.
A crammed boat carrying Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, killing at least eight people, while 58 others were still missing, the Libyan Red Crescent said Wednesday (January 25).
The vessel was carrying at least 150 migrants, 84 of whom survived and were taken to state-run detention centers for migrants, said Tawfik al-Shukri, spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent – which handles search and rescue operations.
The shipwreck occurred Tuesday off the Libyan town of Garabulli, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the capital of Tripoli. Eyewitnesses to the disaster said the migrants had hoped to reach Italy, according to the Red Crescent.
Bodies washed ashore near the town of Castelverde, Reuters reported. Al-Shukri shared images appearing to show Red Crescent workers wearing protective clothes laying bodies of the drowned migrants into black body bags by the portside. Al-Shukri said the dead who were recovered were all men.
Why is Libya an important transit point for migrants?
War-torn Libya has in recent years emerged as a major transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Europe.
Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in Libya and the country's lengthy borders with six countries.
In 2023, at least 17 migrants were reported dead and 18 others missing off Libya as of January 21, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM). More than 1,100 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya this year, the IOM said.
In 2022, at least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 others missing off Libya, while more than 24,680 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya, according to the IOM.
Many international organizations and experts have described Libya as unsafe for migrants as they are at risk of being locked into detention, abused and exploited.
With Reuters and AP