In western Libya, where a coup d'état took place on the eve of the presidential election, the bodies of 27 migrants including those of a baby and two women, were found late on Saturday in two separate locations in a coastal town. This is reported by Al Jazeera.
According to the country’s Red Crescent, the bodies of at least 27 Europe-bound refugees including those of a baby and two women, were found late on Saturday in two separate locations in the coastal town of Khoms, some 90km (55 miles) from Tripoli.
Three other refugees were rescued, and search efforts were underway for others, it said.
“The bodies’ advanced state of decomposition indicates that the shipwreck happened several days ago,” a security official told AFP news agency, adding the toll could rise.
Images published by Libyan media outlets showed corpses lined up along the shore then placed in body bags.
The refugees likely drowned in recent shipwrecks off Libya, a key departure point for African and Asian migrants making desperate attempts to reach Europe.
UN Migration Agency reported that about 1,500 refugees have drowned in numerous boat mishaps and shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean route this year. According to International Migration Organization, more than 30,000 refugees have been intercepted in the same period and returned to Libya.