A boat with more than 50 people on board capsized off Libyan, the United Nations said, the latest accident involving migrants trying to reach Europe.
The exact location of the accident remains unclear, UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Twitter. A spokesman for Libya’s coastguard said a patrol boat was dispatched, without providing any further information.
Libya is one a main departure point for African migrants fleeing poverty and war to reach Italy by boat. Many are intercepted at sea and brought back by the Libyan coast guard, with the approval of the European Union.
Thousands are held in government-run detention centres in what human rights groups and the United Nations say are inhumane conditions.
