11 migrants dead after boat capsized off Libya
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At least four survivors were able to swim to land and received assistance from the coastguard.
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Libyan Red Crescent worker puts the body of a migrant, who died after their boat capsized, in a bag, in Garabulli, Libya January 24, 2023. (Reuters)
Following the sinking of a migrants' boat off the coast of Libya on Tuesday, the Libyan coastguard found the dead 11 migrants, including a toddler.
At least four survivors were able to swim to land and received assistance from the coastguard.
The bodies were discovered floating in the water a few yards from the shore in the village of Garabulli, about 50 kilometers east of Tripoli.
They recovered the bodies of 10 men and a girl and placed them in white body bags, and rescued the survivors who were too weak to flee on foot, as per AFP.
After obtaining food and drink from the rescuers, the survivors sought to catch their breath and recuperate strength while lying on the grass.
One of the migrants stated that before it sank close to the shore, the boat had been carrying roughly 80 passengers.
Some escaped the area after swimming back to shore, but it was unclear what happened to the other migrants.
Read next: Europe's Detention Hell-Hole in Libya: Migrants Raped, Tortured, Beaten
According to passports displayed by the survivors, those on board the wrecked vessel were from a variety of nations, most notably Bangladesh, Egypt, and Pakistan.
More than a decade of violence in Libya helped turn the country into a fertile ground for human traffickers who have been accused of abuses ranging from extortion to slavery.
Read next: EU funds facilitated torture, sex slavery in Libya, UN finds
This comes shortly after the Libyan Red Crescent reported on Monday that it had recovered the bodies of 34 migrants since an inflatable boat carrying around 100 people sank off the city of Sabratha.
