NEW YORK, 25 February, 2021 (TON): On Wednesday, the UN claimed that over the weekend at least 41 people drowned when their boats capsized in the Central Mediterranean.

The boats involved migrants fleeing conflict-stricken Libya and seeking a better life in Europe.

In a joint statement, the UN migration and refugee agencies said that the dead were among at least 120 migrants on a dinghy that left Libya on 18 February. The shipwreck took place two days later, it said.

The rescued survivors were taken o the Sicilian port town of Porto Empedocle in Italy, they added.

Citing the survivors, UNHCR said the tragedy started when the dinghy took on water about 15 hours after the migrants embarked on their perilous voyage. Within hours, at least six people fell into the sea and perished, and two others drowned while attempting to swim to a boat spotted in the distance.
Later, the commercial vessel Vos Triton arrived, and attempted to rescue survivors in what the UNHCR described as a “difficult and delicate operation.” Many others died during the rescue operation, it said.

Since 2011, Libya has been a dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East; thousands have drowned along the way while being smuggled. Others were intercepted and returned to Libya to fall “victim to unspeakable brutality at the hands of traffickers and militias.