Khaberni - A Libyan police official reported yesterday, Saturday, the discovery of the bodies of 5 migrants, including two women, after the waves swept them to the shore of Qasr al-Akhyar, a coastal city located about 73 kilometers east of Tripoli.
The head of the investigations department at Qasr al-Akhyar police station, Hassan al-Ghawil, explained that locals reported a child’s body swept to the beach before it returned to the sea due to high waves, mentioning that the coast guard was requested to search for it.
Al-Ghawil added that "all the bodies belonged to individuals of dark skin," and were found by local residents on the beach of Mohamed al-Sharif in the western part of the city, before they reported them to the police station, according to Reuters.
Al-Ghawil said: "We contacted the Red Crescent to recover the bodies. The bodies we found are still intact, and we believe there are more bodies that will be washed ashore."
Crossing path
Earlier this month, the International Organization for Migration announced that 53 migrants, including two infants, died or were missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of the town of Zuwara, west of Tripoli.
A report issued by the United Nations last week stated that migrants in Libya - which is a major transit route - including girls, face risks of being killed, tortured, or raped, calling for the suspension of returning migrant boats to Libya until human rights are respected.
The United Nations also urged authorities in Tripoli and eastern Libya to implement urgent legal and political reforms to protect migrants and refugees, describing their situation as a "brutal reality" and also calling on the European Union to stop intercepting migrants in the open sea.
