Almost 100 Refugees Missing off Libyan Coast: Navy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Libyan navy said Thursday that almost 100 asylum seekers were missing after their Europe-bound boat sank off the country's coast, while 29 others were rescued.
"According to information received on Wednesday afternoon, 20 illegal immigrants of African nationalities have been rescued," General Ayoub Qassem, a navy spokesman in Tripoli, told AFP.
"They were on an inflatable dinghy which tore and filled up with water," he said.
Qassem quoted a survivor as telling his rescuers that the boat had set off with 126 migrants on boat from Garabulli, 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Tripoli, and went down battered by high waves.
Three women and a child were among the 97 missing, he said.
Since 2014, more than 10,000 refugees have died or are feared to have drowned while attempting to get across the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Many blame the West for sparking the conflicts and tensions in the Middle East and North Africa that have been forcing millions of refugees to flee to Europe in hope of finding a better life.
