42 presumed dead in migrant boat shipwreck off Libyan coast: IOM
Baku, November 12, AZERTAC
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday that a rubber boat carrying 49 migrants and refugees capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving 42 people presumed dead, Xinhua reported.
In a statement, the IOM said Libyan authorities carried out a search and rescue operation on Nov. 8 near the Al Buri Oil Field after the vessel, which had departed from the Libyan coastal city of Zuwara, capsized.
According to survivors, the boat left Zuwara on Nov. 3. About six hours after its departure, high waves caused the engine to fail, overturning the vessel and throwing all passengers into the sea.
After drifting for six days, seven were rescued -- four from Sudan, two from Nigeria and one from Cameroon. The 42 missing migrants are presumed dead, including 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon and two from Nigeria, the IOM said.
According to data from the IOM's Missing Migrants Project, more than 1,000 migrants and refugees have died in the Central Mediterranean so far this year.
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