At least 42 migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized off Libya’s coast. Seven survivors were rescued after six days adrift, the UN migration agency confirmed.
At least eight people were confirmed dead at the scene while local divers were trying to rescue others, the local Channels Television reported, citing eyewitness accounts.
The UN's International Organisation for Migration said in a statement 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.
Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman, who is coordinating the rescue operations along with Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, said over 11 people died in the accident and most of them were children who had come for a ride amid ongoing school vacations.