April 23 (Reuters) – Libya’s eastern-based coast guard of the Libyan National Army rescued at least 404 migrants on board 10 boats after they had “faced harsh conditions at sea,” the Tobruk Red Crescent said on Wednesday.
Tobruk is a coastal city in eastern Libya near the border with Egypt.
The Red Crescent in the city said the migrants are from different nationalities.
Pictures posted by the Red Crescent on Facebook showed their volunteers providing first aid, food and blankets to the migrants.
Libya is a transit route for migrants, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa, risking their lives to flee to Europe across desert and sea in the hope of escaping conflict and poverty.
On Monday, 10 migrants were confirmed to have died after their boat capsized off Tobruk, and 31 were still missing, according to three Libyan sources and the International Organization for Migration. Six bodies were recovered on Saturday after washing ashore.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Hani Amara; Editing by Chris Reese)
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