About 40 people are feared dead or missing
after a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Libya, a UN official has said.
Charlie
Yaxley, a UN refugee agency spokesman, also said about 60 people may have been
rescued.
"Terrible news coming in of potentially
large loss of life in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya," he tweeted, yesterday
adding that details still remained "sketchy".
"Around
60 people have been rescued and returned to shore. At least 40 people are
estimated to be dead or missing."
Libyan
coastguard spokesman Ayoub Gassim confirmed at least five bodies - including a
child - were recovered near the town of Khoms, about 75 miles (120km) east of
the capital Tripoli.
He said the coastguard rescued at least 65
migrants, mostly from Sudan, and that efforts were being made to locate those
who were still missing.
An
independent support group for those attempting to cross the Mediterranean -
Alarm Phone - said up to 100 people were on the boat when it capsized.
It said it received a call from one of those on
board who "were in severe distress, crying and shouting, telling us that
people had died already".
Mr Yaxley
later tweeted: "A rescue operation by local fishermen and the Libyan Coast
Guard has been underway since this morning. Amongst the survivors includes
people from Sudan, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.
"If
today's tragic numbers are confirmed, the number of people drowned in the
Mediterranean in 2019 will have reached close to 900. UNHCR is calling for
urgent increase in search+rescue capacity on the central Med, including lifting
of restrictions on NGO boats.
"These tragedies are preventable. Cannot
accept large loss of life each month as normal. More rescue capacity is needed
inc return of EU State vessels NGOs should be free to save lives at sea.
Greater efforts to give people hope so they don't risk these journeys in the
1st place."
Last week,
more than 100 people died off the Libyan coast as a boat with about 250 people
on board also capsized.
Thousands of
people each year have died in the Mediterranean from among the hundreds of
thousands trying to cross from North Africa to Europe.
Libya has
become a major channel for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe
following the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with traffickers
exploiting the unrest since his death.
Almost 5,400 migrants have been intercepted or
rescued at sea by the Libyan coastguard so far this year, according to the UN
refugee agency.
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