Boat carrying 23 migrants capsizes off Libya’s coast

A boat carrying 23 Egyptian and Syrian migrants and refugees capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya on Saturday. Nineteen people were said to be missing and presumed dead, a local organisation concerned with aiding migrants said.

The Tobruk-based Foundation for Migrant Assistance and Humanitarian Services said on Facebook that one body was retrieved, three migrants were rescued while the search continues for 19 others.

The Foundation’s Executive Director, Asriwa Saleh, said bad weather had greatly affected the search.

Many people have drowned off the coast of Libya in recent months as attempts to reach Europe have increased. Migrants are often fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Video: ‘I can’t swim’ migrant pleads as he drowns