Up to 150 migrants are feared drowned after the boats they were travelling in capsized off Libya’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea, according to aid agencies and officials.
The Associated Press news agency quoted Ayoub Qasim, a spokesman for Libya’s coastguard, as saying that that two boats carrying around 300 people sank around 120km east of Tripoli. Qasim also revealed that 134 people were rescued.
According to the official, most of the rescued from the sea were from Ethiopia while others were Palestinians and Sudanese.
In comparison, the International Organization for Migration said that more than 150 people were feared drowned while 145 were rescued.
?Urgent: tragic shipwreck may have occurred in the central mediterranean.
Nearly 150 migrants are reported missing and 145 more returned to Libyan shore.— IOM Libya (@IOM_Libya) July 25, 2019