Ship Carrying 600 Migrants Fleeing Libya Sinks

 

The United Nations Refugee Agency reports that a ship carrying 600 migrants trying to flee the violence in Libya, sunk off the African nations coast on Friday.

The vessel reportedly broke apart shortly after leaving port near Libya’s capital city of Tripoli. A spokesperosn for the U.N. agency says they do not know the fate of the hundreds of passengers onboard the vessel, but they are working to find out. So far 16 are confirmed dead after the bodies of 14 adults and 2 babies washed ashore.

Witnesses to the tragic accident who were onboard a second vessel that left shortly after, say they saw the ship broken into pieces and bodies floating in the water. This most recent sinking is not the first migrant vessel to fail to reach safety – in March two boats, carrying 120 and 360 migrants headed for Italy never reached the Italian coast. Those passengers, along with those onboard this latest vessel are feared dead. 

Last month a small ship carrying 72 people, washed ashore in Libya. Most of those onboard were dead or dying of hunger and thirst after drifting on the open sea for 16 days after their boat ran out of fuel.