A rubber boat carrying 55 passengers, including two babies, has overturned off the coast of Libya, the UN migration agency says.
The only survivors, two Nigerian women, were rescued by the Libyan authorities on Friday, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced on Monday. The boat was carrying migrants and refugees from various African countries, it said.
The boat sank after taking on water approximately six hours after departing from the coastal city of al-Zawiya in north-western Libya.
The IOM says that almost 500 migrants have been reported dead or missing trying the cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya so far in 2026
Libya has become a staging point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa seeking to reach Europe since long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed in 2011.
According to IOM at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing in January alone after a series of “invisible” shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean during of extreme winter weather. The true toll is feared to be higher.