Around 61 migrants, including women and children, have drowned following a “tragic shipwreck” off the coast of Libya, said the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Citing survivor accounts, the IOM’s Libya office said in a post on X that the boat had left the coastal city of Zuwara, situated west of the capital Tripoli and 60 km (37 miles) from the Tunisian border, with around 86 people on board.
“The central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes,” the UN agency said in the post.
CNN has reached out to the UN IOM’s office in Libya for further details.
Libya is a key transit point along the Central Mediterranean route.
Each year, tens of thousands of people pour across Libya’s borders. Tragedies at sea are not uncommon as many flee conflict, seeking better lives.
According to latest figures released by UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 2,500 people have died or gone missing this year alone in the Central Mediterranean and “numbers in other parts of the world are likely to be very high.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated