Boat Packed With Migrants Sinks Off Libya Friday August28,2015

 

Libyan authorities were collecting the bodies of migrants who drowned off the coastal city of Zuwara, with some 200 feared dead on Friday August28,2015 in the latest disaster involving desperate people trying to reach Europe.

 

Hussein Asheini, the head of Libya's Red Crescent in Zuwara, said at least 105 people were killed, some while trapped inside the boat after it capsized. Fishermen and the coast guard found the waterlogged vessel at sea and towed it back to Zuwara, where they had to break the ship's deck to reach people trapped inside.

In a statement, the United Nations refugee agency said that up to 200 people were missing and feared dead after the Libyan coast guard carried out rescue operations Thursday for two boats carrying an estimated 500 migrants.

Othman Belbeisi, chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration for Libya, said in a statement: "We are still waiting for more details, but we have learned there were 400 people on one of two boats."

He said 100 were rescued, including nine women and two girls

Note

Since a 2011 civil war that ended with the overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Moammer Gadhafi, the oil-rich north African country of Libya has plunged into chaos. It is divided between an elected parliament and government based in the eastern port city of Tobruk and an Islamist militia-backed government in the capital Tripoli. Militants from the Islamic State group are also exploiting the chaos.