Audio By Carbonatix
The bodies of at least 15 migrants, including a girl, have washed ashore along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast over the past week after their boat was believed to have capsized, security, navy and medical sources told Reuters on Saturday.
The vessel was carrying around 61 people, according to 10 survivors, a navy source said.
The bodies were recovered from several places along the coastline of Tobruk, a city near the Egyptian border, the sources added. Two security officials said the remains were badly decomposed and warned that more bodies could still be found.
Images posted on Facebook by the Tobruk Red Crescent showed volunteers in white hazmat suits recovering bodies from rocky shorelines and placing them into white plastic bags.
Since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean.
The oil-dependent Libyan economy is also a draw for impoverished migrants seeking work.
Separately, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre in Khumas city, which operates under the health ministry in the capital Tripoli, said its medics treated 13 migrants after their boat capsized off the coast.
Latest Stories
-
NSMQ 2026: Asanteman SHS books one-eighth spot as Senya SHS’s 2nd bid ends in heartbreak
5 minutes -
GHS unveils new framework to improve Ghana’s preparedness for health emergencies
11 minutes -
Suspected robber crashes stolen taxi into traders while fleeing mob at Ejisu
54 minutes -
NSMQ 2026: Kumasi Academy secures one-eighth spot after commanding win over Bueman SHS, Hohoe EP SHS
1 hour -
Republic Bank-JoyNews Habitat Fair: Day 2 ends on high note as patrons enjoy exciting discounts
1 hour -
Big Push: Upper West MPs inspect N12 works, optimistic improved roads will curb robberies
2 hours -
India is turning to ancient water systems as modern ones run dry
2 hours -
NSMQ 2026: Anum Presby survive tense battle to deny St. Charles Minor Sem. one-eighth spot
3 hours -
NSMQ 2026: Heartbreak for OLA SHS as Aburi Presby SHTS deny them one-eighth spot
3 hours -
Laptop catches fire on US flight, with passenger treated at airport
3 hours -
Tano North chiefs tackle police over ‘routine release’ of arrested illegal miners
3 hours -
Accra-Kumasi Expressway almost complete – Roads Minister
3 hours -
ECG announces temporary power outages in parts of Tema and Ashanti Regions
4 hours -
Somalia child hunger crisis deepens after aid cuts, UNICEF says
4 hours -
Media urged to help shape Constituency Games implementation
4 hours