adminLibyan authorities have recovered at least 20 bodies off the coast of the capital, Tripoli, after a boat carrying up to 200 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa went missing at sea. “We found 16 individuals alive, the rest are lost. We are investigating the rest. “There were 20 bodies found dead in the water,” Abdel Latif Mohamed Ibrahim, a member of the Libyan coast guard, said early on Saturday following the Friday incident.
Libya, which is mired in unrest and political chaos, has been a launchpad for migrants seeking a better life in Europe and turn to people smugglers to get them across the Mediterranean.
Since the end of July, dozens of people who have set off on rickety boats from the Libyan coast have died at sea, and dozens more have gone missing, presumed drowned.
The coastguard official was unable to give any firm details of the nationalities of the victims or survivors, but added: “It seems that among them are Somalis and Eritreans.” — Aljazeera
derick.khumalo