Watchdog: Dozens of Undocumented Migrants Die in Shipwreck Off Libyan Coast
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - More than 100 undocumented migrants died in a shipwreck after leaving the Libyan coast in early September, the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)(MSF) medical humanitarian organization said on Monday citing survivors.
According to the information received by the MSF staff, two rubber boats set out from the coast of Libya on September 1 carrying more than 160 people each.
"While the first boat had stopped due to an engine failure, our boat continued to navigate and began deflating around 1 pm. There were 165 adults and 20 children on-board," a survivor of the shipwreck said.
The survivor added that an aircraft sent by "European rescuers" had come later and thrown life rafts, but by that time the boat had already sunk and capsized, leaving migrants in the water.
"On our boat, only 55 people survived. Many people died, including families and children. They could have been saved if rescuers had come earlier", the survivor added.
The UN Migration Agency said on September 7 that 71,779 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2018 through September 5.
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