KHOMS, Libya (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 Interior Ministry and the local Red Crescent.
Libya is an important transit point for migrants, many of whom come from African countries, in search of a better life in Europe.
Mohamed Abushaala, the Red Crescent official in Khoms, a port in western Libya, said 15 bodies, including that of a baby, were recovered from the shore in the nearby town of Alous on Saturday. He said that, according to three survivors, 35 people were on the sinking boat.
He added that the figure of 17 bodies circulating on social media 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, to whom the bodies were entrusted.
“The bodies were still intact (…) there were 14 of them, there was also a little baby,” he added.
The Home Office then said 14 bodies were found among a group of 60 people missing at sea.
It was not clear from those statements whether it was the same group, and Interior Ministry 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, written by Angus McDowall, French version Jean-Michel Bélot)
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