53 dead or missing after migrant boat capsizes in Mediterranean

The UN migration agency said 53 people had died or were missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast. Only two survivors were rescued. The International Organization for Migration said the boat overturned north of Zuwara on Friday.

"Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search and rescue operation by Libyan authorities," the IOM said, adding that one of the survivors said she lost her husband and the other said she had "lost her two babies in the tragedy." IOM teams provided the two survivors with emergency medical care.

Survivor accounts said the boat – carrying migrants and refugees of African nationalities – departed from Al-Zawiya, Libya, at about 11pm on 5 February and capsized approximately six hours later after taking on water. IOM mourns the loss of life in yet another deadly incident along the central Mediterranean route.

Libya, Zuwara

mediterranean sea, libya, zuwara, al-zawiya, migrant boat, capsized, iom, survivors, nigerian women, rescue operation