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Alsharq Tribune- Gina Issa
At least 18 migrants died in a shipwreck off the city of Tobruk in eastern Libya over the weekend, and 50 are still missing, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday, citing reports.
Ten survivors have been accounted for so far, the IOM said. Tobruk is a coastal city near the border with Egypt.
A diplomatic source from the Egyptian consulate in Benghazi in eastern Libya told Reuters by phone that the migrants are from Egypt.
The diplomat said 10 bodies were identified and transferred back home, while the survivors were being held in an anti-illegal migration facility.
A Libyan Coast Guard official said the bodies of migrants were found in Alaghila Beach, some 25 kilometers east of Tobruk. Since the toppling of Moammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has become a transit country for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty across the desert and over the Mediterranean to Europe.
"This latest tragedy is a stark reminder of the deadly risks people are forced to take in search of safety and opportunity.
Libya remains a major transit point for migrants and refugees, many of whom face exploitation, abuse, and life-threatening journeys," the IOM said.
Meanwhile, rescue units, involving Navy, coast guard, civil protection and border units, rescued 11 Algerians and a Tunisia off the province of Bizerte, north Tunisia, attempting an illegal sea crossing to Italy from Algeria’s El-Kala coast after their boat broke down at sea, a security source told TAP news agency.
The source said bad weather prevented the Algerians, from the state of El Tarf, from advancing towards the Italian coast and therefore, were stranded in water for four days. All rescued migrants were transferred to a hospital in Bizerte where they received treatment.
