A migrant ship with about 130 people on board capsized off the coast of Libya earlier this week, an aid organization said. A dozen bodies are said to have been seen near where the ship capsized. Dozens of migrants probably drowned after the ship was wrecked.
The humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee says it was warned by a volunteer organization on Tuesday. He reported that three boats had run into problems in international waters off the coast of Libya.
A ship from SOS Mediterranee and a number of merchant ships then sailed to the area, where the waves reached a height of up to 6 meters.
“We haven’t found any survivors since we arrived today, but we did see at least ten bodies near the wreckage. We are devastated,” said the rescue coordinator. The aid organization scanned the area all day on Wednesday in search of a wooden boat with forty people on board that had also got into trouble.
“There is no longer any hope of finding survivors,” said a French reporter from one of the rescue ships. According to her, “many bodies” have been seen floating in the sea.
At least 450 migrants drowned in the Mediterranean this year
The UN refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported last week that at least 41 people, including a child, have died after a boat carrying African migrants sank off the coast of Tunisia.
At least 450 migrants have already died in the Mediterranean this year. Most of them tried to reach Europe from Libya or Tunisia.
