Tripoli, Aug 27, 2019 – The bodies of five migrants including a Moroccan child were recovered off Libya’s coast Tuesday while up to 20 others were missing after a Europe-bound boat sank, the navy said. Navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem told reporters 65 migrants, mostly from Sudan, were rescued off Khoms, a town 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Tripoli.
The vessel was believed to have been carrying up to 90 people, he said, based on survivors’ accounts. Libya has long been a major transit route for migrants, especially from sub-Saharan Africa. People traffickers have operated with impunity in the chaos that followed the 2011 uprising which toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
By AFP
Download MP3 file of the above cast here | More briefs: