Libyan coast
guards rescued about 85 migrants off the shore east of Tripoli on Saturday but
about 40 more migrants were believed to be missing, a coast guard offic
er said.
The migrants
were rescued about six miles (10 km) north-west of the town of Garabulli after
fishing boats spotted them at sea, said Muammar Mohamed Milad, a local coast
guard official.
"Due to
the heavy load on the rubber boat, the wooden base got broken and it started
sinking," said Milad.
"According
to the survivors about 40 others are missing, including seven children,"
he said. The body of one woman was had already been recovered.
Garabulli,
about 50 km (30 miles) east of the capital, is a common departure point for
migrants trying to reach Europe. Smugglers usually cram the migrants into
flimsy rubber boats with homemade wooden bases.
Most make it
to international waters where they are picked up by ships and taken to Italy,
but some are intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, or break down or sink in
Libyan waters.
The vast
majority of migrants trying to cross to Europe by sea use the central
Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy.
More than
85,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year. Some 2,150 are known to
have died attempting the crossing over the same period, according to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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