Eleven migrants have been killed and nearly 200 others are missing after two shipwrecks off Libya, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said today.
The first wreck was that of an inflatable that had sailed from Libya on Friday morning with 132 passengers. Within a few hours this boat started to lose air and capsized.
About 50 survivors were rescued by a Danish container ship, the Alexander Maersk, which was diverted by the Italian Coast Guard and transported yesterday to Pozzalo, in southern Sicily, where representatives of the UNHCR and the IOM met today.
According to survivors, there were women and children among the missing people.
The bodies of 10 women and a child were found today on a beach in Zaouia, 50 kilometers west of Tripoli, according to a Libyan Red Crescent official.
On Sunday, seven migrants — a woman and six men — were rescued by fishermen and Libyan port officials off the city. According to a representative of the IOM who was able to meet them and talk to them, they clarified that a total of 120 people had boarded a boat, among them about thirty women and nine minors.
In all, more than 6.000 migrants were rescued on Friday and Saturday in international waters off Libya and transported to Italy, while several hundred others were rescued in Libyan territorial waters and transported back to the country.
Source: Newsbeast