At least 53 migrants including two babies are dead or missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of Libya the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.
According to the UN agency the boat departed from the coastal town of Zawiya on Thursday and overturned near Zuwara on Friday citing survivor accounts. Both towns are located west of the capital Tripoli a region frequently used by migrant smugglers.
Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search and rescue operation conducted by Libyan authorities the IOM said. One survivor reported losing her husband, while the other said she lost her two infant children in the incident.
The tragedy adds to a growing humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean where more than 1,300 migrants have gone missing so far in 2025 according to the IOM. In January alone, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing following several unrecorded or invisible shipwrecks during severe weather.
The agency said the latest incident brings the number of migrants reported dead or missing on the route in 2026 to at least 484.
Libya has remained a key transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe since the collapse of the state following the 2011 uprising. Rights groups have repeatedly warned of abuse torture and deadly conditions in detention centres across the country urging international action to protect vulnerable migrants.
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