Migrant Boat Sinks Off Libyan Coast

A boat packed with more than 200 African immigrants sank off the Libyan coast near Tajoura, which is east of Tripoli. Thus far, only 36 of the passengers have been rescued from the vessel, which was headed for Europe. “There are so many dead bodies floating in the sea,” said Libya’s navy spokesman Ayub Qassem. There were a lot of floating bodies but a lack of resources meant we could not fish out the corpses, especially as it was starting to get dark,” he said. “Our priority was to rescue the survivors.” The political instability in Libya has made it a popular thruway for immigrants trying to reach Europe, but with fatal results. Just last month, a vessel carrying 170 migrants disappeared off the coast of Libya. The UN estimates 100,000 of these migrants have reached Italy since the start of 2014, but close to 2,000 have died trying.