25 African migrants drown off Libyan coast after rubber dingy capsized
25 immigrants drowned off the Libyan coast after a dingy filled with 150 immigrants capsized on Saturday morning, reported search and rescue NGOs.
German NGO, Sea Watch, tweeted on Saturday:
"Rubber
dingy sunk north of Tripoli. At least 25 people died in the incident,
the exact numbers still unclear. The Italian Navy on the scene."
Meanwhile,
AFP reported that Italian coastguards as saying that 85 people were
rescued and 8 bodies were recovered in the operation.
Italian
coast guard, which coordinates rescues in international waters off
Libya's coast, said an aircraft on patrol for a European anti-smuggling
operation spotted the dinghy, which was in difficulty Saturday morning in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian navy and coast guard vessels were involved in the rescue.
Proactiva
Open Arms, a Spanish humanitarian group that is one of the few NGOs
which still operate their own rescue ships, said some migrants had spent
hours in the water before being saved.
Laura
Lanuza, a spokeswoman, said there were at least 86 survivors. It wasn't
immediately clear why their survivor tally was different than the coast
guard.
The aid group tweeted that possibly dozens more migrants could be missing from the boat.
The Italian news agency ANSA said the dinghy was partially submerged when it was spotted.
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