Libya’s coast guard says about 100 migrants are missing at sea, feared dead after their boat capsized off the coast of this North African country.
Spokesman Ayoub Gassim told The Associated Press that the coast guard rescued 14 migrants but he couldn’t provide definitive numbers for the migrants who were on board or their nationalities.
He says the boat capsized east of the capital, Tripoli, and the 14 were rescued on Friday. It was unclear when they embarked on the perilous trip for Europe or from where they had set off.
Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East. Traffickers have exploited Libya’s chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
This year just over 11,400 arrivals from Libya have been registered by Italy’s interior ministry, more than 80 per cent fewer than during the same period in 2016 and 2017.
WATCH: Overloaded migrant boat tips over, prompting dramatic Mediterranean rescue