A total of 31 migrants have died in a shipwreck near Libyan coast, while Libya’s Navy managed to rescue over 200 people, Libyan Navy spokesman Ayub Ghasem said on Saturday, media reported.
“According to the preliminary data, the boat flipped over due to the overload,” Ghasem said, as quoted by the Italian Corriere della sera newspaper.
UPDATE via @Reuters: 31 bodies recovered after today’s shipwreck off #Libya, near Garabulli, east of #Tripoli. 200 survivors brought back to port: https://t.co/j8pQSD8uZb. Photos via Libyan Navy (https://t.co/CB3LVfY9Ry) pic.twitter.com/GTbUIFZTw4
— SAR watch MED (@SARwatchMED) 25 ноября 2017 г.
Libya is one of the main transit countries for migrants. According to UN figures, the majority of migrants (90 percent), who cross the Mediterranean to Europe depart from Libya. The civil war in Libya, as well as the unstable situation in the region, have brought the humanitarian situation in the country to a critical state. Approximately 1.3 million people need humanitarian assistance in Libya.
In July, Prime Minister of Libya's Government of National Accord Fayez Sarraj asked Italy to provide technical assistance and send its military ships to the Libyan shores to jointly combat human trafficking.
