At least 57 bodies have washed ashore, after two migrant boats sank in the Mediterranean, off different towns in western Libya, a Coast Guard officer and an aid worker said on Tuesday.
One survivor, Bassam Mahmoud from Egypt, said there were about 80 passengers on one of the boats. They had set off for Europe at around 2 am on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
“There was an argument as the boat was sinking, but the man in charge refused to stop,” he said.
“We kept fighting until someone caught up with us. The scene was horrific and some died (in the water) in front of me,” he told Reuters.
“Eleven bodies, including that of a child, were recovered off Qarabulli in eastern Tripoli,” said Coast Guard officer Fathi Al-Zayani. The migrants were from Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt.
A Red Crescent aid worker in Sabratha said they had recovered 46 bodies over the past six days.
Pictures posted online by the Sabratha Red Crescent agency showed bodies in black bags being placed in the back of pick-up trucks.
The aid worker said more bodies are expected to be recovered in the coming days
Notably, the International Organization for Migration in Libya (IOM) said earlier this week that 3,897 migrants were intercepted in the Mediterranean and returned to Libya, in 2023.
The IOM added that 236 migrants died at sea, while 174 people were missing. Among those intercepted were 99 children and 181 women.
A decade after overthrowing late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya became the main departure point for mostly African migrants trying to cross to Europe.
