More than 60 people became victims of a shipwreck off the coast of Libya

At least 61 people died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya. The boat on which the migrants tried to sail to Europe was overcrowded and overturned. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there were at least 86 people on board, many of them children.

The IOM clarified that most of the passengers were from Nigeria, Gambia and other African countries. It is known about 25 survivors – they are now in a temporary detention center in Libya, they are receiving medical assistance.

The agency expressed concern over regular disasters involving illegal migrants. Citizens of African and Middle Eastern countries are trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea on boats and boats, often not equipped with rescue equipment, to reach the shores of European countries – mainly Italy and Greece. Overcrowded boats often crash, causing human casualties. In July of this year, when a ship with migrants crashed off the coast of Greece, hundreds of passengers – mainly citizens of Pakistan – died. Earlier in the same month, 79 people drowned in a similar crash. According to the IOM, more than 2,200 migrants became victims of shipwrecks in the region in 2023.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, in 2023, more than 153 thousand asylum seekers arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean Sea via Libya and Tunisia.