Three babies have been pulled out of the dead and nearly 100 others are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Libya, rescued by the country's port authorities.
Nearly 120 people, most of them from African countries, were riding the inflatable boat, which sank just 6km off the Libyan coast.
Only 16 migrants were rescued from the wreck, all of them young men, who have been evacuated to the Al Khmindiya area, east of Tripoli.
The boat had set sail early in the morning from the port city of Garabouli, 50 kilometers from the Libyan capital. A few hours later there was an explosion and his engine was engulfed in flames. The inflatable began to take water, people fell into the sea and tried to hold on to a part of the boat that remained on the surface or to cans of floating fuel.
According to the port, they were spotted by local fishermen who informed the authorities.
Survivors said many Moroccan families, as well as Yemenis, were on board. Among the missing are two babies and three young children aged 4-12, as well as 10-15 women.
In the last ten days, the Libyan port authorities have rescued hundreds of would-be migrants. On June 18, five bodies were retrieved and more than 100 people were rescued after their boat sank off Libya. Earlier in the week, nearly 1.000 migrants on several inflatables gathered in the Mediterranean.