TRIPOLI, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Nine bodies of migrants have been recovered in the past two days from the shores of an eastern suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli after their boat capsized, the Tripoli Red Crescent branch said.
The Red Crescent branch said in a statement late on Monday that the bodies were recovered from Tajoura, some 22 km (14 miles) from Tripoli.
More bodies are likely to wash ashore as the boat was carrying about 19 people, according to local authorities in Tajoura, Tripoli Red Crescent media officer Muad Zurgani told Reuters by phone.
“The search and recovery operations are still ongoing in coordination with the relevant authorities, under field conditions that require continuous effort and an urgent humanitarian response,” the Tripoli Red Crescent said.
Pictures posted by the aid organisation showed their volunteers, together with security forces, carrying bodies in white plastic bags on the beach.
The charity rescue ship, EMERGENCY, rescued 50 migrants from a wooden boat in international waters off Libya on Monday, while seven others were found dead.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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