UN agency reports at least 73 migrants presumed dead after shipwreck off Libya
According to the UN agency, a ship carrying migrants crashed off the coast of Libya. The UN declared 73 migrants who disappeared in the accident dead. Only 7 people survived the shipwreck.
At least 73 migrants trying to reach Europe were lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, the United Nations Migration Service said on Wednesday. Disappearing immigrants were considered dead.
The UN International Organization for Migration said in a statement that the wreck took place Tuesday, and that Libya authorities have retrieved at least 11 bodies.
Seven survivors of the shipwreck arrived on the Libyan shores in "extremely difficult conditions", the UN said. Immigrants were taken to the hospital.
The Central Mediterranean is an important route for immigrants. There are a lot of shipwrecks on this route. Tuesday's crash is the last to happen on this route.
Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
(AP)
