Migrants’ bodies recovered
CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s coast guard recovered dozens of bodies of Europe-bound migrants who perished at sea as search operations continued Friday, a day after up to 150 people, including women and children, went missing and were feared drowned when their boats capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
A top U.N. official described Thursday’s shipwreck as “the worst Mediterranean tragedy” so far this year.
The Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency in the Libyan capital said that up to 350 migrants were on board the boats that capsized.
The migrants included nationals from Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the agency said. Libyan officials said more than 130 have been rescued.
One of the survivors, from Eritrea, said his vessel started to capsize after an hour of sailing. Most of the migrants on board were women, he said, and most of them drowned.
Two other survivors, reached at a disembarking facility in Tripoli, said they had each paid between $200 and $400 to smugglers who promised they would reach Italy’s shores by sunset Thursday.
Ahmed al-Tayeb, a 32-yearold from Sudan, said he was on one of three boats that capsized an hour after setting off from Libya on Wednesday night.
At least a dozen of the survivors were taken to a hospitalwhile the rest were transferred to different detention centers, including Tajoura, located near the front lines of the fighting between rival Libyan factions.
The Tajoura detention center was hit by an airstrike on July 3 that killed more than 50 people and raised new concerns over the treatment of migrants in Libya.
Amnesty International called Friday on EU leaders to “show some courage” and reverse their decision to halt migrant rescues in the Mediterranean.