22 bodies retrieved off Libya coast

TRIPOLI: The Libyan Red Crescent retrieved the bodies of 22 migrants off the coastal town of Zwara on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

“Today, 22 bodies were retrieved by the Libyan Red Crescent in Zwara,” the IOM’s chief of mission in Libya, Federico Soda, wrote on Twitter.

On Wednesday, the IOM and the UN refugee agency said dozens of migrants and refugees had perished off Libya in the deadliest shipwreck so far this year.

The agencies said that survivors from Monday’s sinking, 37 of whom were rescued by fishermen, said at least 45 others, including five children, had died when the engine of the vessel they were aboard exploded off Zwara.