More than 100 Europe-bound migrants are feared dead in a shipwreck off the Libyan Mediterranean coast, independent rescue groups said. SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said late Thursday that the wreck of a rubber boat, which was initially carrying around 130 people, was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, reported by AP.
The aid vessel did not find any survivors, but could see at least ten bodies near the wreck, the group added in a statement. The European humanitarian organization added that more than 350 people have drowned in the sea so far this year, not counting the victims of this latest shipwreck. It had notified European and Libyan authorities of the GPS position of the boat but only non-state rescue groups actively searched for it. European authorities are refusing to coordinate a search operation, and instead laid full responsibility on the Libyan coastguard, who also declined to launch a rescue operation.
In recent years, the European Union has partnered with Libya’s coast guard and other local groups to stem such dangerous sea crossings. Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centres rife with abuses.
