Libya Naval Forces Rescue 115 Illegal Migrants

Libyan naval forces have rescued 115 illegal migrants after their overloaded rubber boat sank off the coastline, and 25 more were still missing, a spokesman said on Friday.

News ID: 72783

Date: 05 March 2017 - 11:03

According to MANA, he vessel went down around 3 a.m. on Friday, 3 miles (5 km) off Tajoura, just east of Tripoli, because it was overloaded and taking on water, Tripoli naval forces spokesman Ayoub Qassem told Reuters.

"They are from different sub-Saharan countries, one from Bangladesh and six women," he said. "Our coastguards carried out a search operation in that area off Tajoura in attempting to find the missing ones but no one was found."

Last month, the bodies of 74 migrants were found washed up on a beach in western Libya after the engine of their vessel was stolen.