At least 8 dead, 86 others rescued from sinking migrant boat off Libya

NewsBharati    07-Jan-2018
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Roam, January 7: The deadliest route of migrants, the Mediterranean Sea off Libya has again taken away 8 lives. This route has witnessed a large number of accidents of migrants in last year too. After a rubber dinghy started sinking on Saturday in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, 86 others were rescued in the same accident.

As per the Italian coast guard statement, an aircraft on patrol for a European anti-smuggling operation had spotted the partly submerged dinghy. In the first incident of the sinking of a migrant boat in 2018, it is feared dozens of others are still missing. While Libyan authority claimed the death toll 25, Italian Coastguard dis not confirm it.

The migrant boat left Garbouli, east of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, with more than 100 people on board, a Libyan military official said. Still being the deadliest route, migrants from North Africa try to take this route. Human traffickers take the chance of these helpless people.

The International Organization of Migration also recorded more than 3,100 deaths among migrants making the Mediterranean crossing in 2017. Though it is hopeful that, the EU's border management agency, Frontex, said the numbers of migrants traveling to Europe illegally last year dropped 60% to 204,300.