File photo: Migrants crammed in a boat enroute Europe
At least 50 migrants, including women and children, were feared lost at sea, while 10 survived, after their wooden boat capsized on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Libya, two security sources told Reuters.
The survivors were rescued near El-Bardaa Island, some 70 km (43 miles) west of Tobruk, which is near the border with Egypt.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
The security sources said the boat was carrying about 60 migrants. According to the survivors, the boat set sail early in the morning.
The migrants are from different sub-Saharan countries, the sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity.
Separately, rescue teams in Tobruk recovered four bodies of migrants on Monday and rescued 24 after their boat was found adrift in Libyan waters for two weeks, according to the security sources.
“The boat was carrying 28 migrants who faced extremely harsh humanitarian conditions aboard a dilapidated boat where four died because of that,” said one of the sources.
“The survivors were taken to a local hospital for medical treatment,” the source said.
In June, authorities in Tobruk recovered about 26 bodies of migrants when their boat capsized near the city.
REUTERS
