TRIPOLI — At least 18 people were killed and dozens rescued after a wooden boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast on Tuesday, the United Nations migration agency said. Among the 64 survivors were 12 Pakistanis, according to AFP.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the vessel went down only hours after setting sail, overwhelmed by high waves in the Mediterranean Sea near the coastal city of Surman, west of Tripoli.
The IOM said the survivors included 29 Sudanese men, one Sudanese woman and one child, 18 Bangladeshi men, 12 Pakistani men, and three Somali men. The nationalities of those who died remain unconfirmed.
“This latest shipwreck is a stark reminder of the grave dangers faced by people undertaking perilous sea journeys in search of safety and opportunity,” the agency said in a statement.
The central Mediterranean route; stretching from North Africa toward southern Europe, remains one of the world’s most dangerous migration corridors. Thousands continue to risk their lives on rickety, overcrowded boats in the hope of reaching Europe’s shores.
The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded at least 1,046 deaths and disappearances along this route so far this year, including 527 off Libya’s coast.
Tuesday’s disaster followed another deadly incident last week, when 40 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned off the coast of Tunisia.
The IOM said it was working with local partners to provide survivors with medical care, psychosocial support, and essential supplies. The agency renewed its call for “urgent, coordinated international action” to prevent further tragedies at sea, stressing that the loss of life along the Mediterranean “is not inevitable — it is preventable.”
