Bodies of 15 migrants wash ashore on Libya’s eastern coast

BENGHAZI: The bodies of at least 15 migrants, including a girl, were found along Libya’s eastern Mediterranean shoreline over the past week after a boat was believed to have overturned, according to security, navy and medical officials on Saturday.

The bodies were recovered from multiple points on the coast near Tobruk, a city close to the Egyptian border. A navy source, citing 10 survivors, said the vessel had been carrying around 61 people. Two security officials said the remains were in an advanced state of decomposition and warned that additional bodies may yet be discovered.

Images shared on Facebook by the Tobruk Red Crescent showed volunteers wearing white hazmat suits collecting bodies from rocky stretches of coastline and placing them in white plastic bags.

In a separate incident, the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre in Khumas, which operates under the health ministry in Tripoli, said its teams treated 13 migrants after another boat capsized off the coast. Libya has become a major transit point for migrants seeking to reach Europe since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Qadhafi. The country also attracts poor migrants looking for work in its oil-dependent economy.