60 migrants feared dead after Libya shipwrecks: IOM

TRIPOLI: At least 60 migrants are feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya over the past week, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported missing and only five survivors found, the IOM said in a statement on Tuesday.

Those lost at sea included Eritrean, Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals.

The second wreck took place about 35-kms off the port city of Tobruk, with the sole survivor reporting 39 people lost at sea, according to the UN body.

“With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM´s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the statement, at least 743 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The deadly route, it said, is “marked by increasingly dangerous smuggling practices, limited rescue capacity and growing restrictions on humanitarian operations”.