A Europe-bound boat carrying around 80 migrants sank off the Libyan coast on Tuesday, leading to the deaths of 11 people including a child.
The Libyan coastguard was able to rescue four survivors who managed to swim to shore after the sinking. The authorities were alerted to the presence of bodies floating in the water near the shore, leading to the recovery of the bodies of 10 men and a girl.
The survivors, who were exhausted, were given food and drink and allowed to rest. Passports found with the survivors indicated that those on board were of various nationalities, including Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
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Libya has been a fertile ground for human traffickers over the past decade of violence in the country since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Human traffickers have been accused of a range of abuses, including slavery and extortion. The Libyan Red Crescent recovered the bodies of 34 migrants last week after an inflatable boat carrying around 100 people sank off the city of Sabratha. The fate of the remaining migrants on board the Europe-bound boat that sank off the Libyan coast on Tuesday remains unclear.
