54 dead, 10,000 Migrants Rescued Off Libya

Image Caption: Illegal immigrants, who were rescued by the Libyan coastguard in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, arrive at a naval base in the capital Tripoli, in this May 26, 2017 photo. (AFP)

ROME: About 10,000 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya over the previous four days but at least 54 others died, Libyan and Italian officials said Saturday.

On Saturday, the Tunisian Army also rescued 126 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa hoping to reach Italian shores, officials said. They were aboard a flimsy inflatable boat off the coastal town of Ben Gardane, near the Libyan border.

On Friday, more than 1,200 migrants were rescued by Libyan ships and taken to Tripoli or Zawiya, about 50 km west, while the Italian coast guard and commercial boats rescued 2,200 others and took them to Italy.

At least 10 bodies were also found by the Italian coast guard, officials said.

Migrants were still disembarking in southern Italy on Saturday.

Another 6,400 were picked up between Tuesday and Thursday, but at least 44 people died, including 35 who drowned on Wednesday when a powerful wave struck their vessel, pitching them into the sea as a rescue ship was distributing life jackets. Officials expressed fears that many more people were still missing at sea.

The unloading of passengers in Sicily was halted all week due to the G-7 summit in the eastern hilltop town of Taormina, which lengthened rescue ships’ journey by 24 hours and delayed their return to the seas. In response, they called on commercial boats to help out.

(Source: ArabNews.com)