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
-
Gakpo and Brobbey at the double as Dutch sink Swedes
58 minutes -
Colombia’s escalating, brutal internal conflict is defining its presidential election
2 hours -
Israeli strikes kill six people in Gaza including Al Jazeera cameraman, officials say
2 hours -
King Charles to reveal personal tax bill for first time as monarch
3 hours -
Substitute Undav scores twice as Germany reach last 32 with comeback win
3 hours -
How does qualification for the World Cup knockout stage work?
4 hours -
At least 15 migrant bodies wash ashore in eastern Libya, sources say
4 hours -
‘Electoral Commission appointments must come from parliament’ – Kofi Bentil
5 hours -
iLotBet launches exciting iPhone 17 giveaway for World Cup season
6 hours -
Man found dead after alleged attempted attack on church in Sefwi Asafo
6 hours -
SIC Insurance launches electric vehicles to advance green transition agenda
7 hours -
NHIA CEO urges students to prioritise health insurance and wellbeing
7 hours -
Elderly man rescued from drowning after clinging to coconut tree during Moree floods
7 hours -
Kpandai Assembly supplies maize to boarding schools ahead of lean season
7 hours -
Ghanaian mining engineer Dr Linda Abangbila earns PhD in China after five-year AI research journey
7 hours