At least 57 people from various African countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia drowned on Monday after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where more than 1,100 have perished this year.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Bodies have not been recovered from the shipwreck.
“According to survivors brought to shore by fishermen and the coast guard, at least 20 women and two children were among those who drowned,” IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli tweeted.
She said the migrants, the majority from West Africa, departed from Khums, presumably to reach Europe.
“Despite an increase in arrivals in Europe, there is no crisis of numbers and arrivals remain manageable through better solidarity and improved governance and management of migration,” she said.
Migrant boat departures to Italy and other parts of Europe from Libya and Tunisia have increased in recent months with better weather. Hundreds of thousands have made the perilous crossing in the last years, many fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.