Boat carrying Egyptian migrants to Europe capsizes off Libyan coast, killing 12

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CAIRO (AP) — A boat carrying 13 Egyptian migrants to Europe capsized off Libya's coast, killing all on board except for one person, local authorities and a Libyan group said Tuesday.

Al-Abreen, a group that provides humanitarian assistance to migrants in Libya, said on Facebook that the boat capsized 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the city of Tobruk on Monday evening.

One migrant survived, according to the group, which said the bodies were recovered and brought to shore.

The Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration in Tobruk also confirmed the incident.

In recent years, the North African nation has become the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Last month, a migrant boat carrying 32 people capsized off the Libyan coast due to engine failure, leaving one person confirmed dead and 22 others missing, according to Libyan authorities. The coast guard in Tobruk said nine people were rescued. Al-Abreen said the boat was bound for Europe and was carrying migrants from Egypt and Syria.

Human traffickers have long taken advantage of instability in Libya that escalated after a NATO-backed uprising overthrew and killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Traffickers smuggle migrants on crammed, poorly equipped vessels on risky sea trips across the North African nation’s borders, which are shared with six countries.

As of Monday, there have been 531 reported migrant deaths and 754 missing migrants on the Central Mediterranean route in 2024, the International Organization for Migration Libya told the AP on Tuesday.

Last year, 962 migrants died and 1,563 went missing off Libya, the IOM previously said. About 17,200 migrants were intercepted and sent back to Libya in 2023, the organization said.