73 migrants presumed dead in vessel mishap off Libya

GENEVA (AP):

An inflatable rubber boat carrying migrants wrecked off the coast of Libya and 73 people were missing and presumed dead, the UN migration agency said Wednesday. It was the latest tragedy involving migrants seeking better lives in Europe.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that the disaster took place Tuesday and that Libya authorities had retrieved 11 bodies.

It said the boat, packed with around 80 migrants, reportedly departed from the village of Qasr al-Akhyar, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli. The migrants were heading to European shores, it said.

The dead included one woman and 10 men, said Safa Msehli, IOM’s spokesperson.

It was not immediately clear what happened to the vessel but images showed the deflated broken-up rubber boat on shore.

Seven migrants, all men, survived the mishap and made it to Libyan shores, the UN said, and were in “extremely dire conditions”. They were taken to a hospital.

Qasr al-Akhyar officials shared footage online showing Libya’s Red Crescent workers handling dead bodies that washed ashore. The footage also showed the broken-up inflatable rubber boat.

A survivor said in a different video shared by the municipality that scores of migrants were killed in the shipwreck. He said they paid between US$3,000 to US$5,000 each to smugglers to make the ill-fated trip.

In video comments, Salem Awag, the top Qasr al-Akhyar official, called on authorities in Tripoli to step up support to the village to help guard the shore and prevent further crossings.

Tuesday’s shipwreck was the latest tragedy in the central Mediterranean Sea, a key route for migrants. The death toll on that route has reached at least 130 migrants this year, IOM said.

In 2022, more than 1,450 migrants died, according to the IOM’s missing migrants project.

“This situation is intolerable,” said Safa Msehli, the organisation’s spokesperson. She called on governments to increase search and rescue efforts and to “establish clear and safe disembarkation mechanisms as well as safe and regular pathways to migration”.

Off Libya’s shores alone, at least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 others missing last year, while over 24,680 were intercepted and returned to the country, according to the IOM.