KHOMS, Libya, December 26 (Reuters) – The bodies of more than a dozen migrants who drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe were stranded on the Libyan coast late on Saturday, according to the Minister of Justice. ‘Interior and the local Red Crescent.
Libya is an important transit point for migrants, many of whom come from African countries, seeking a better life in Europe.
Mohamed Abushaala, head of the Khoms Red Crescent, a port in western Libya, said 15 bodies, including that of a baby, were picked up on the shore in the nearby town of Alous on Saturday. He said that, according to three survivors, 35 people were on the boat which sank.
He added that the figure of 17 bodies circulating on social networks as well as that of 10 other bodies found on another beach were inaccurate.
“They stayed at sea for about a day,” said Osama al-Saket, head of the Khoms hospital, which the bodies were confiscated.
“The bodies were still intact (…) there were 14 of them, there was also a small baby,” he added.
The Minister of the Interior then said that 14 bodies had been found among a group of 60 people missing at sea.
It was not clear from these statements whether this was the same group, and Home Secretary officials were not immediately available for comment.
Photographs released by the Khoms Red Crescent show bodies lined up on a beach being placed in bags. (Report by Reuters editorial staff in Libya, edited by Angus McDowall, French version Jean-Michel Blot)