At least 50 Sudanese refugees lost their lives when a boat bound for Greece caught fire and went under off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed.
According to the UN migration agency, the vessel sank about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the eastern city of Tobruk. The IOM said on Thursday that the tragedy occurred on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, the agency disclosed on X that the boat had been carrying 75 Sudanese nationals. Only 24 people were rescued, making the incident one of the deadliest in recent months for those risking the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.
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On Monday, the Libyan Red Crescent reported it had received an alert from Tobruk authorities to retrieve bodies of those who drowned. The organization later said it had recovered remains along Kambot beach, 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of the town, and Qabes, 90 kilometers (56 miles) east. It did not confirm whether the bodies belonged to the Sudanese passengers.
Libya has long served as a gateway for people escaping conflict and poverty across Africa and the Middle East. Just weeks earlier, another migrant boat capsized near its shores, leaving one person dead and 22 others missing. Tobruk’s coast guard stated then that the vessel had 32 passengers, nine of whom were rescued.
December also saw a devastating shipwreck off western Libya that claimed the lives of at least 61 migrants, including women and children.
READ ALSO: Hundreds of Sudanese migrants deported from eastern Libya amid crackdown on smuggling
Data from the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project shows that in the past eight months alone, more than 434 people have died and 611 remain missing along Libya’s coast.
The country has been a key departure point for migrants since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, whose ouster in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 plunged Libya into prolonged instability.
