Many victims fear in the Mediterranean

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Various reports claim that dozens of people are missing in the Mediterranean.

A lifeboat returned to Libya with at least parts of a crowd of passengers.

According to Alert Phone organization, which operates in the Mediterranean region north of the African coast, a migrant boat with 70 people on board made several emergency calls four days ago, after leaving the Libyan coastal city of Khoms.

Since then, we haven’t heard from him. Neither the Maltese nor the Italian authorities guarding the sea area where it disappeared have reported any rescue efforts.

Later on Saturday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced that 89 people who tried to migrate to Europe were rescued at sea and returned to Libya and the capital, Tripoli. Two bodies were also returned – but it appears that another 40 people are missing.

It is not clear if Alarm Phone and UNHCR are talking about the same group of people. It is just over ten kilometers from a bird’s-eye view between Tripoli and Khoms.

Many people who want to try to migrate to Europe end up with boat smugglers in Libya and embark on dangerous boat journeys. So far this year, at least 1,369 people have died at sea, the UN’s International Migration Agency knew as of the beginning of September.