GARABULLI: The Libyan coastguard rescued 11 dead migrants, including a minor. It is after their Europe-bound boat capsized off the North African country’s coast.
In addition, the coastguard recovered at least four survivors of the wreckage. These survivors were able to swim to land following the event. Authorities in Garabulli were notified of the existence of remains floating in the water just metres from the coast.
The bodies of ten men and a girl were retrieved and placed in white corpse bags. After receiving food and water from the saviours, the survivors lay down on the grass.
According to one of the survivors, the boat was carrying approximately 80 people when it capsized along the coast.
Some migrants evacuated the area after swimming back to shore, but the fate of the other people was unclear.
Passports displayed by survivors revealed that individuals on board the sinking ferry were of numerous countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, and Pakistan.
In the evening, the coastguard launched a second attempt to rescue migrants aboard another ship in distress off the coast of the same city.
“We rescued 61 migrants who were on another boat… they are all safe… they are from Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and African countries,” a Garabulli coastguard official told AFP.
Since the collapse and assassination of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, Libya has been a breeding ground for people traffickers, who have been accused of crimes ranging from extortion to slavery.
