Up to 150 migrants feared drowned off coast of Libya
As two boats capsize, the UN high commissioner for refugees calls it the "worst Mediterranean tragedy of this year".
Thursday 25 July 2019 20:16, UK
Up to 150 migrants hoping to reach Europe are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya.
UN high commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi described it as the "worst Mediterranean tragedy of this year".
Some 147 people have been saved, but Charlie Yaxley, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said: "We estimate that 150 migrants are potentially missing and died at sea."
Two boats carrying about 300 migrants capsized roughly 75 miles (120km) east of the capital, Tripoli.
Only one body has been recovered so far, said Libyan coastguard spokesman Ayoub Gassim.
The Libyan navy said those on board were mainly from Eritrea and other sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries.
Mr Grandi said in a tweet that "restoring rescue at sea, ending refugee and migrant detention in Libya, [and] increasing safe pathways out of Libya must happen NOW".
Action was vital, he said, "before it is too late for many more desperate people".
Libya has become a hub for migrants and refugees, and this latest tragedy takes the number of migrants who have died in the Mediterranean this year to more than 600.
It means that 2019 is on course to be the sixth year in a row with more than 1,000 deaths, the UN said.
He added that survivors were likely to be taken to two detention centres in Libya, where there is "insufficient food, water [and] often unsanitary conditions".
Libya says the migrants are both entering and leaving the country illegally.