At least 15 migrants, among them a young girl, have been found dead along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coastline over the course of the past week, following what is believed to have been a boat capsizing. Security, navy, and medical sources shared the information with Reuters on Saturday.
According to a navy source, 10 survivors reported that the vessel had approximately 61 people aboard when it went down.
The bodies were discovered at multiple locations along the shoreline near Tobruk, a city situated close to the Egyptian border. Two security officials noted that the remains were in an advanced state of decomposition and cautioned that additional victims may still be found along the coast.
The Tobruk Red Crescent posted images on Facebook showing volunteers dressed in white hazmat suits carefully retrieving bodies from rocky stretches of shoreline and placing them into white plastic bags.
Libya has served as a major transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe ever since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi during a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Desperate individuals fleeing poverty and conflict have since risked their lives crossing vast desert terrain and the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean.
Libya’s oil-dependent economy also draws migrants from impoverished regions who are searching for employment opportunities.
In a separate incident, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre in Khumas city — which operates under the health ministry based in the capital, Tripoli — reported that its medical staff treated 13 migrants following another boat capsizing off the coast.
