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45 Killed in Deadliest Shipwreck Off Libya's Coast This Year

Heather Murdock

   ISTANBUL - International aid organizations say 45 people, including
   five children, were killed in the deadliest shipwreck off Libya's coast
   this year.'¯

   Thirty-six survivors, mostly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were
   rescued by local fishermen after their boat's engine exploded earlier
   this week. They had been at sea for two days, trying to get to Europe
   to apply for refugee status.

   Survivors are being detained in Libya with thousands of other people
   who unsuccessfully tried to make that journey, according to the United
   Nations' refugee agency, the UNHCR. Most of the victims' bodies are
   still missing.

   "They could only rescue the people who were there alive," said Tarik
   Argaz, a UNHCR spokesperson, in a phone interview from Tunis. "A few
   bodies were washed to shore the next day."

   More than 300 other people have also died attempting to make the
   journey across the Mediterranean this year, and officials say that
   estimate is probably very low. Libya is a transit point for migrants
   and asylum-seekers.

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