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Libya’s coast guard recovers dozens of bodies of migrants

Rescued migrants rest on a coast some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Tripoli, Libya, Thursday, July 25, 2019. The U.N. refugee agency and the International Rescue Committee say up to 150 may have perished at sea off the coast of Libya. The country's coast guard says the Europe-bound migrants are missing and feared drowned after the boats they were traveling on capsized in the Mediterranean Sea. A spokesman says they rescued around 137 migrants on Thursday. (AP Photo/Hazem Ahmed)
Rescued migrants rest on a coast some 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Tripoli, Libya, Thursday, July 25, 2019. The U.N. refugee agency and the International Rescue Committee say up to 150 may have perished at sea off the coast of Libya. The country's coast guard says the Europe-bound migrants are missing and feared drowned after the boats they were traveling on capsized in the Mediterranean Sea. A spokesman says they rescued around 137 migrants on Thursday. (AP Photo/Hazem Ahmed)

By Associated Press 5 min read

CAIRO (AP) – Libya’s coast guard recovered dozens of bodies of Europe-bound migrants who perished at sea as search operations continued Friday, a day after up to 150 people, including women and children, went missing and were feared drowned when their boats capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.

A top U.N. official described Thursday’s shipwreck as “the worst Mediterranean tragedy” so far this year.

The Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency in the Libyan capital said that up to 350 migrants were on board the boats that capsized off the town of Khoms, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Tripoli.

The migrants included nationals from Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan and Libya, the agency said. Libyan officials said more than 130 have been rescued since Thursday.

One of the survivors, from Eritrea, said his vessel started to capsize after an hour of sailing. Most of the migrants on board were women, he said, and most of them drowned.