Eighteen migrants seeking to reach Europe drowned in a shipwreck off the west coast of Libya, AFP learned Tuesday (August 24th) from corroborating sources.
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Sixteen migrants including a woman and a child disappeared (Sunday) off Zouara, 48 migrants survived,
" the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Monday on Twitter citing the count of its data system Missing Migrants Project. The latest report shows 18 dead and 51 people rescued, an official of the Libyan coast guard in Zouara told AFP on Tuesday.
The city of Zouara is located 120 kilometers from the capital Tripoli, on the west coast of Libya, a North African country plunged into chaos since 2011. Despite persistent insecurity, Libya remains an important crossing point for tens of thousands of migrants each year seeking to reach Europe via the Italian coast, some 300 km from the Libyan coast. According to IOM, 20,257 migrants were intercepted between January and August and returned to Libya.
The number of migrants who died at sea trying to reach Europe has more than doubled this year, IOM said in mid-July. Nearly 970 people have died in the Mediterranean since the start of the year. The latest tragedy occurred at the end of July, when around sixty migrants drowned in a shipwreck off the west coast.
