Shipwreck off Libyan coast leaves 74 migrants dead
European migrant crisis
At least 74 migrants drowned after their Europe-bound ship capsized off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the UN migration agency said.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), that boat was reported to be carrying more than 120 people, including women and children. Forty-seven survivors had been brought to shore by the coastguard and fishermen, while the bodies of at least 74 people were floating near the water’s edge on Thursday.
This year has seen a resurgence of boats in the central Mediterranean, a well-trodden but often deadly route for those hoping to travel to Europe, mainly embarking from Libya and neighbouring Tunisia.
The UN's International Organization for Migration reported "a devastating shipwreck which claimed the lives of at least 74 migrants today off the coast of Khoms," in a statement, adding that the coastguard and fishermen were searching for survivors.
Khoms is a port city 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
The IOM called it the latest disaster in a "series of tragedies" involving at least eight other shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea since the start of October.
"The boat was reported to be carrying over 120 people, among them women and children," the IOM said, adding that 47 survivors had been brought back to shore and 31 bodies retrieved.
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The IOM said that in the past two days, at least 19 other people, including two children, drowned after two boats capsized in the central Mediterranean.
More than 20,000 migrants have died in the last seven years, according to the UN refugee agency.
Human traffickers have taken advantage of persistent violence in Libya since the 2011 fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, turning the country into a key corridor for migrants fleeing war and poverty in desperate bids to reach Europe.
While many have drowned at sea, thousands have been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, which has been backed by Italy and the EU, and returned to Libya.
They mostly end up in detention, often in horrific conditions.
(With inputs from agencies)