“Survivors told us that they had about 10 women on board, and one of them was pregnant,” Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, said in a phone interview. Libya is the principal springboard for most African migrants seeking to enter Europe, and before they even set to sea, the migrants face other dangers like traffickers and violence. The dingy set out Thursday from the coastal town of Garabulli, Libya, west of Tripoli, and in about 10 hours started deflating and taking on water, survivors told humanitarian workers. In February 2017, the bodies of 74 migrants were recovered from a beach near the town of Zawiya in western Libya. On Friday night, the Italian navy said the rescue operations, coordinated by the Libyan Rescue Coordination Centre, had concluded after the search for the dinghy proved fruitless.

Source: bd News24 January 20, 2019 09:30 UTC