At least 50 migrants dead after boat capsizes off Libya

Wednesday July 15, 2026

Nairobi (HOL) — At least 50 migrants, including women and children, died after a wooden boat capsized Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya’s eastern coast, two security sources said.

Ten survivors were rescued near El-Bardaa Island, about 70 kilometers west of Tobruk, close to Libya’s border with Egypt.

The sources said the boat was carrying about 60 migrants from several sub-Saharan African countries. Survivors told authorities the vessel had set sail early in the morning.

The security sources spoke on condition of anonymity.

Libya has become a major transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty and seeking to reach Europe through dangerous desert crossings and Mediterranean sea routes. The trend has intensified since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

In a separate incident, rescue teams in Tobruk recovered four bodies Monday and rescued 24 migrants after their boat was found adrift in Libyan waters for two weeks, the security sources said.

“The boat was carrying 28 migrants who faced extremely harsh humanitarian conditions aboard a dilapidated boat where four died because of that,” one of the sources said.

The survivors were taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.