Over 60 people have drowned in the capsizing of migrant vessel off Libya, the UN says
Cairo, Dec 17: A boat carrying dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving more than 60 people dead, including women and children, the UN migration agency said.
The shipwreck, which took place overnight between Thursday and Friday, was the latest tragedy in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, a key but dangerous route for migrants seeking a better life in Europe. Thousands have died, according to officials.
The UN's International Organisation for Migration said in a statement late on Saturday that the boat was carrying 86 migrants when strong waves swamped it off the town of Zuwara on Libya's western coast and that 61 migrants drowned, according to survivors.
"The central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world's most dangerous migration routes," the agency wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The European Union's border agency said in a statement on Sunday that its plane located the partially deflated rubber boat on Thursday evening in Libya's search and rescue zone.
"The people were in severe danger because of adverse weather conditions, with waves reaching heights of 2.5 metres," the agency, known as Frontex, said.
Alarm Phone a hotline for migrants in distress said in a tweet that some migrants onboard reached out to the volunteer group who in turn alerted authorities including the Libyan coastguard, "who stated that they would not search for them."
A spokesman for the Libyan coast guard was not immediately available for comment.
Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, even though the North African nation has plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
More than 2,250 people died on the central European route this year, according to Flavio Di Giacomo, an IOM spokesperson.
It's "a dramatic figure which demonstrates that unfortunately not enough is being done to save lives at sea," Di Giacomo wrote on X.
According to the IOM's missing migrants project, at least 940 migrants were reported dead and 1,248 missing off Libya between January 1 and November 18.
The project, which tracks migration movements, said about 14,900 migrants, including over 1,000 women and more than 530 children, were intercepted and returned to Libya this year.
In 2022, the project reported 529 dead and 848 missing off Libya. Over 24,600 were intercepted and returned to Libya.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country's lengthy borders, which it shares with six nations. The migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages.
Those who are intercepted and returned to Libya are held in government-run detention centres rife with abuses, including forced labour, beatings, rapes and torture practices that amount to crimes against humanity, according to UN-commissioned investigators.
The abuse often accompanies attempts to extort money from the families of the imprisoned migrants before allowing them to leave Libya on traffickers' boats to Europe.
Un naufragio al largo della Libia ha provocato 61 dispersi. I #migranti erano partiti in 86 da Zwara.
— Flavio Di Giacomo (@fladig) December 16, 2023
Sono oltre 2250 le persone che hanno perso la vita nel Med. Centrale quest'anno. Un numero drammatico che purtroppo dimostra che non si fa abbastanza per salvare vite in mare.
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Man shot dead over drain waste dispute in Greater Noida; accused held after encounter
Noida (PTI): A 25-year-old man was allegedly shot dead by his neighbour following a dispute over burning of drain waste in Greater Noida's Sakipur village, police said on Wednesday.
The main accused was arrested after an encounter, they added.
The incident took place late Tuesday night when the victim, identified as Sajan Bhati, was attacked near his house. The accused allegedly opened fire on him, causing critical injuries. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Shailendra Kumar Singh said, "The accused, Mangesh (31), killed Bhati in the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday, following a dispute over the burning of drain waste in front of the victim's house. A police complaint was received at Surajpur Police Station regarding the murder."
He said police teams were formed to nab the accused, and during checking near the Moser Baer roundabout, the suspect was intercepted.
"When police tried to stop him, he opened fire. In self-defence, the police retaliated, in which the accused sustained injuries and was apprehended," the officer said.
Police recovered a country-made pistol, two live cartridges and a car from his possession, he added.
According to the police, the two accused were travelling in the car at the time of the encounter, and one of them managed to escape. Efforts are underway to arrest the absconding accused.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Surajpur Police Station in Gautam Buddh Nagar, and further investigation is in progress, the police said.
