Daily Times

ZUWARA – At least 76 people have died after a ship carrying hundreds of migrants and refugees sank off the coast of Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent said on Friday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said as many as 200 people on two boats were feared dead near the western port of Zuwara. “Until now 76 bodies have been retrieved from the sea and 198 people have been rescued,” Libyan Red Crescent spokesman Mohammad al-Misrati told reporters.

“There are still people missing but we don’t know how many,” Misrati said, adding that the figures of dead and rescued came from the local Red Crescent branch, medical facilities in Zuwara and the Libyan coastguard. In Geneva, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters that two boats carrying a total of 500 refugees and migrants had sunk.

“The Libyan coastguard carried out two rescue operations on Thursday morning off the port town of Zuwara,” she said. “We are hearing media reports that there are about 100 survivors. Our office in Libya is checking with the coastguard. We believe 200 are still missing, feared dead,” she added.