Tripoli | A shipwreck off the Libyan coast left 20 people dead, hours after another left 74 dead, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported overnight from Thursday to Friday.
MSF teams in the town of Sorman (north-east) “today assisted three women, the only survivors of another shipwreck where 20 people drowned,” the NGO said on its Twitter account.
“Rescued by local fishermen, they were in shock and terrified, they saw loved ones disappear under their waves, die before their eyes,” according to MSF.
Shortly before, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced a death toll of at least 74 dead in a shipwreck off Khoms, a Libyan coastal town some 180 kilometers east of Sorman.
And 47 survivors were brought ashore by the Libyan coast guard and fishermen.
Since the start of the year, more than 11,000 people have been returned to Libya, “at the risk of exposing them to human rights violations, detention, abuse, (human) trafficking and trafficking. ‘exploitation,’ IOM denounced.
Libya has been plunged into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, torn between two rival authorities: the Government of National Unity (GNA), based in the West in Tripoli and recognized by the UN, and a power embodied by Khalifa Haftar, strong man of the East.
Despite persistent insecurity since 2011, this North African country remains an important transit point for migrants – largely African – seeking to reach Europe.