53 Migrants Feared D£ad As Boat Caps!zes In Libya, Leaves Two Nigerian Surv!vors

53 Migrants Feared Dead As Boat Capsizes In Libya, Leaves Two Nigerian Survivors

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the only survivors were two Nigerian women who were rescued by Libyan authorities on Friday.

At least 53 migrants, including two babies, are feared dead after a rubber boat carrying 55 passengers overturned off the coast of Libya, according to the United Nations migration agency.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the only survivors were two Nigerian women who were rescued by Libyan authorities on Friday.

The agency announced the incident on Monday, adding that the boat was carrying migrants and refugees from various African countries.

The vessel reportedly sank after taking on water approximately six hours after departing from the coastal city of al-Zawiya in north-western Libya.

IOM said almost 500 migrants have been reported dead or missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya so far in 2026.

Libya has become a key departure point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa seeking to reach Europe since the killing of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Survivors told IOM that the rubber dinghy departed at around 23:00 local time from al-Zawiya, west of Tripoli, before overturning several hours later in the early hours of Friday north of Zuwara.

It is not immediately clear why it took several days for news of the incident to emerge.

According to the agency, one of the two survivors said she had lost her husband, while the other reported that her two babies had died. IOM teams provided both women with emergency medical care.

IOM said at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing in January alone after a series of “invisible” shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean during periods of extreme winter weather, warning that the true toll is feared to be higher.

Despite repeated tragedies, migrants continue to attempt the crossing.

Conditions for migrants inside Libya are widely documented as dire, with UN human rights officials warning of torture, trafficking, forced labour, extortion and other abuses by both state and non-state actors, including militia groups.

The agency said traffickers and sa*muggling networks profit by forcing people onto ,,zone* and unseaworthy vessels, contributing to the mounting death toll, and has urged stronger international cooperation to dismantle such networks and create safe and legal migration pathways.

Many vessels that sink are never reported by smugglers, leaving victims unaccounted for and families without answers.

Several countries, including the UK, Spain, Norway and Sierra Leone, have called on Libya to shut down detention centres where rights groups say migrants have been tortured, abused or killed.