Four migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean more than five days after the vessel that was meant to take them to Europe capsized off Libya, reports said on Monday, citing three Libyan sources and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
However, 10 migrants were reported dead in the incident off Tobruk in eastern Libya, while 31 were still missing. Six bodies were recovered on Saturday after they washed ashore.
The IOM said that the search and rescue operation was ongoing. The migrants were from Egypt and Sudan, according to security sources.
Libya is a key transit point for migrants, many of whom come from sub-Saharan Africa, risking their lives as they attempt to reach Europe by crossing the desert and the sea in a bid to escape conflict and poverty.
The UN data, compiled at the end of the previous year, suggests that the country’s 100 municipalities now host well over 900,000 migrants.
