Around 15 migrant bodies wash ashore in eastern Libya

BENGHAZI: The ⁠bodies of at least 15 migrants including a girl ​have washed ​ashore along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast over the past week after their boat was believed to have capsized, security, navy and medical sources said on Saturday. The vessel was ⁠carrying around 61 people, according to 10 survivors, ⁠a navy source said.

The bodies were recovered from several places along the coastline of Tobruk, a city near ‌the Egyptian border, the sources ​added. Two security ⁠officials said the remains were badly ​decomposed and warned that ‌more bodies could still be found. Images posted on Facebook by ​the Tobruk Red Crescent showed volunteers in white hazmat suits recovering bodies from rocky shorelines and placing them into white plastic bags.

Libya has ​become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict ​and poverty ⁠to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean. The Libyan economy ​is also a draw for impoverished migrants ⁠seeking work. Separately, ​the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre in Khumas city, which operates under the health ministry in the capital Tripoli, said its medics treated ​13 migrants after their boat capsized off ​the coast. — Reuters