8 Dead, 58 Missing After Shipwreck Off Libya
CAIRO—A boat carrying Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, killing at least eight people, while 58 others were still missing, the country’s Red Crescent said Wednesday.
Tawfik al-Shukri, spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent, said the shipwreck took place Tuesday off the Mediterranean town of Garabulli, around 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the capital of Tripoli.
The boat was carrying at least 150 migrants, of whom 84 survived and were taken to government-run detention centers for migrants, he said.
Al-Shukri said the dead who were recovered were all men. He shared images purporting to show workers in Red Crescent uniforms packing black body bags with the Mediterranean Sea in the background.
Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
