TRIPOLI: Sixty-three migrants are missing after the inflatable boat they were on sunk off the coast of Libya, a spokesman for the country’s navy told AFP, citing eyewitness accounts from survivors.
General Ayoub Kacem said that 41 migrants wearing life jackets were rescued. According to the survivors, there were 104 people on board the vessel, which sank off Garaboulli, east of Tripoli.
In addition to the 41 people rescued, a Libyan coast guard boat returned to Tripoli Monday with another 235 migrants, including 54 infants and 29 women, rescued in two other operations in the same area.
The boat’s return to shore was delayed 24 hours due to a breakdown, Kacem said.
Including the latest shipwreck, some 170 migrants have gone missing in the Mediterranean between Friday and Sunday.
On Friday, three babies died off the coast of Libya while 100 people remained missing in another Mediterranean shipwreck.
Just 16 were rescued, all young men, while the missing included two babies and three children under the age of 12.
Libya is a key transit point for thousands of African migrants trying to reach European shores.
Hundreds of migrants die every year crossing the Mediterranean in dangerous conditions trying to reach Italy, taking advantage of political instability in the north African country to depart from Libyan shores.
Libyan navy says 63 missing in new Mediterranean shipwreck
Libyan navy says 63 missing in new Mediterranean shipwreck
- In addition to the 41 people rescued, a Libyan coast guard boat returned to Tripoli Monday with another 235 migrants, including 54 infants and 29 women, rescued in two other operations in the same area
- Libya is a key transit point for thousands of African migrants trying to reach European shores
Israel military says Iran fires new wave of missiles at country
- Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday that it detected missiles heading toward the country from Iran and had activated air defenses, as it pressed a “wave” of strikes against Iran and Lebanon.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said on its official Telegram account.
AFP journalists heard air raid sirens sounding in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.
A short time later, Israel’s military said it was permitted to leave shelters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services reported no immediate injuries following the missile fire, but said its teams were treating “a small number of people who were injured on their way to protected areas.”
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported several injuries from the Iranian strikes near Tel Aviv.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a satellite communications center in Haifa, along with military bases in Israel, and US targets elsewhere in the Middle East including Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.
“We will continue our sustained attacks with purpose and power, and in this war, we contemplate nothing but the enemy’s complete surrender,” the Guards said on their website Sepah News.
