73 migrants feared dead in Libya shipwreck

At least 73 African migrants were feared dead after their Europe-bound make-shift boat capsized off the coast of Libya on Tuesday night.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Wednesday 11 bodies had been retrieved from the shipwreck by Libyan authorities.

“Seven people survived the shipwreck and were able to make it to Libyan shores in extremely dire conditions. The survivors have been taken to a hospital,” the United Nations agency said.

READ ALSO: 15 bodies of suspected illegal migrants found on Libyan beach

IMO said the boat which was carrying about 80 people left Qasr Alkayar, east of Tripoli, for Europe through the Mediterranean Sea when it capsised.

Tuesday’s shipwreck, according to the IOM, was the latest sea tragedy in the central Mediterranean, a key route for migrants, with the agency’s Missing Migrants Project stating that over 25,821 migrants and refugees had gone missing on the sea since 2014.

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