IOM Reports Dozens of Migrants Dead, Missing in Libya Boat Tragedy
The vessel, carrying 55 people, overturned north of Zuwara, Libya, on Friday. Only two Nigerian women survived, rescued during a search-and-rescue operation by Libyan authorities, according to a UN agency spokesperson.
One survivor reported losing her husband, while the other said she lost her two babies in the tragedy. "IOM mourns the loss of life in yet another deadly incident along the Central Mediterranean route," the statement said. The agency also confirmed that the survivors received emergency medical care upon disembarkation in coordination with local authorities.
According to survivor accounts, the boat, carrying African migrants and refugees, had departed from Al-Zawiya, Libya, around 11 pm (2100 GMT) on Feb. 5 and capsized roughly six hours later.
IOM data indicate that at least 375 migrants died or went missing along the Central Mediterranean in January alone, due to multiple “invisible” shipwrecks amid extreme weather, with hundreds more deaths likely unrecorded.
The organization’s Missing Migrants Project reports that over 1,300 people went missing in the Central Mediterranean in 2025. The latest incident brings the total number of migrants reported dead or missing on the route in 2026 to at least 484.
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