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The boat sailed from the Bab al-Zaitoun area, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Tobruk, according to the Abreen, a local aid group. The boat capsized after its engine suffered a mechanical failure, said the group, which supports migrants in eastern Libya.
In another tragic incident, a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast recently, leaving one person dead and 22 missing, according to Libyan authorities. The migrants were trying to cross the sea to Europe.
The boat sailed from the Bab al-Zaitoun area, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Tobruk, according to the Abreen, a local aid group. The boat capsized after its engine suffered a mechanical failure, said the group, which supports migrants in eastern Libya.
The coast guard in the eastern Libyan town of Tobruk said the boat was carrying 32 migrants and that nine had been rescued. Survivors have been taken to a port in Tobruk. The group said the migrants on the boat were from Egypt and Syria, and that the nine survivors were taken to a hospital.
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According to the missing migrants project run by the International Organization for Migration, at least 434 migrants were reported dead and 611 missing off the coast of Libya in the past eight months. More than 14,100 migrants were intercepted and returned to the chaos-stricken country.
Last year, the IOM reported 962 migrants dead and 1,563 missing off Libya. Around 17,200 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in 2023, it said.
