A crew member of the German NGO migrant rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 uses binoculars to keep watch for migrant boats in the search and rescue zone in international waters off the coast of Libya. [Reuters]At least 57 people drowned on Monday after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where more than 1,100 have perished this year, the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Bodies have not been recovered from the shipwreck, but survivors included migrants from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli told Reuters. The migrants, the majority from West Africa, departed from Khums, presumably to reach Europe, Msehli said. Migrant boat departures to Italy and other parts of Europe from Libya and Tunisia have increased in recent months with better weather.

Source: Standard Digital July 27, 2021 07:41 UTC