Bodies of 15 migrants discovered on Libya’s coastline, several still missing

Dead bodies of 15 migrants washed up were found on Libya’s coastline late on Saturday. The information was provided by the interior ministry and the local Red Crescent. Among the dead bodies which were discovered on the shore of at nearby Alous, there was an infant too. 

A picture released by the Khums Red Crescent shows the dead bodies lying in a row, being put into bags by the workers. 

The Head of the Red Crescent in Khums, Mohamed Abushaala, stated that the three survivors informed around 35 people were on board their boat that sunk into the waters. 

Bodies were taken to the Khums hospital. The Head of the hospital, Osama al-Saket, stated, “They were at sea for approximately one day. The bodies were still intact; there were 14 of them, along with one small baby“. 

Hundreds of people try to cross the Mediterranean sea; as per the data shared by the United Nations migration agency, IOM highlighted that about 1,500 drowned bodies had been discovered in this year only. 

Why is the Mediterranean route considered the deadliest? 

The Central Mediterranean route is the deadliest known migration route in the world, with over 17,000 documented deaths and disappearances since the year 2014.

The Central Mediterranean route, from North Africa (primarily Libya) to Italy, continues to be the most active as well as a dangerous route for people crossing to Europe by sea. In 2021, the count of migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean will be quite higher than in 2020.

The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean, is surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and is almost thoroughly enclosed by land on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant.

An area of about 2,500,000 km2 that is (970,000 sq mi), representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, is covered by the Mediterranean sea.