Bodies of 27 migrants wash ashore in Libya, reports Red Crescent

By AP 26 December 2021, 2:50 pm

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Some of the 27 bodies of migrants that the Libyan Red Crescent said were found late Saturday in two separate locations in the coastal town of Khoms, about 75 miles or 120 km west of Tripoli, lie in the mortuary of Khoms City Hospital, in Khoms, Libya, Sunday, Dec, 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad)

The bodies of 27 Europe-bound migrants, including a baby and two women, have washed ashore in western Libya, says the country’s Red Crescent.

The bodies were found late Saturday in two separate locations in the coastal town of Khoms, the Red Crescent’s branch there says. Three other migrants were rescued, and search efforts were underway for others, it says.

The dead migrants likely drowned in recent shipwrecks off Libya. There has been a surge in crossings and attempted crossings from Libya as authorities accelerated their deadly crackdown on migrants in the capital of Tripoli.

Around 1,500 migrants have drowned in numerous boat mishaps and shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean route this year, according to the UN migration agency.