At least 30 migrants die after boat capsizes in Mediterranean

Photo credit: Getty. Libyan paramedics and aid workers stand next to the bodies of African migrants at a naval base in Tripoli.

TMP – 08/01/2018

The Libyan coastguard reports that two boats heading toward Italian shores carrying hundreds of African migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea, some 60km from Libya’s capital Tripoli.

According to Libyan officials, some 31 migrants lost their lives in the incident on 25 November, including 18 women and three children. A further 40 migrants are still missing.

Sixty migrants were rescued from one boat and all 140 from the second boat survived.
The rescued migrants were taken to a naval base in Tripoli.

Later on Saturday, the French NGO, SOS Mediterranee, said that it had rescued more than 400 people from a wooden boat in international waters further from the Libyan coast.