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
-
Lawrence Kobena Nsarko Otoo, Esq
2 minutes -
Bel-Aqua intensifies mental well-being campaign ahead of 15th anniversary
5 minutes -
From banking to party finances: Alfred Kwadwo Thompson elected NPP Treasurer
10 minutes -
George Christian Papa Mends
15 minutes -
Ali Suraj elected NPP NASARA Coordinator
26 minutes -
Mustapha Hamid misses out on NPP Vice Chairmanship by 31 votes despite early poll lead
35 minutes -
Kojo Bamba, Henry Nana Boakye and Nana Akomea elected NPP Vice Chairmen
1 hour -
From Delta Force to NPP First Vice Chairman – Kojo Bamba’s political journey
1 hour -
Police restore calm at Larteh following Odwira festival disturbance
2 hours -
‘All the camps will dissolve’ – Bawumia demands one NPP for 2028
2 hours -
There is no time to waste – Bawumia orders NPP to begin 2028 work
2 hours -
Sarkodie visits MobileMoney Fintech LTD
3 hours -
John Boadu unveils new NPP strategy to win back youth and modernise party
3 hours -
Hawa Koomson elected NPP National Women’s Organiser
3 hours -
John Boadu begins NPP rebuild from grassroots ahead of 2028 election
3 hours