11 migrants drown in shipwreck off Libya

GARABULLI, Libya: The Libyan coastguard recovered on Tuesday the bodies of 11 migrants including a child after their Europe-bound boat sank off the North African country´s coast, an AFP journalist said.

The coastguard also came to the aid of at least four survivors of the shipwreck who were able to swim to shore after the sinking. Authorities in the town of Garabulli, some 50-km east of Tripoli, were alerted to the presence of bodies floating in the water a few metres from the shore.

They recovered the bodies of 10 men and a girl and placed them in white body bags, and rescued the survivors who were too exhausted to flee on foot, the AFP journalist said. Lying on grass, the survivors tried to catch their breath and regain strength after receiving food and drink from the rescuers.