Bodies of 74 drowned migrants found on Libyan coast

Jabour Donken

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) - The bodies of at least 74 undocumented migrants have washed ashore on the Libyan coast, a Libyan Red Crescent (LRC) official said Tuesday.

Muhannad Karima, an LRC official based in the coastal city of Zawiya, said LRC teams had been dispatched to the scene after the bodies were found on the shore of Zawiya’s Al-Harsha area.

"The bodies were those of African people, including three women," Karima said.

"They have not been buried yet; they remain on the shore in body bags," he added.

"Several bodies still remain in the sea as we lack the equipment needed to pull them out," he lamented.

In recent years, the Libyan coast has served as a transit point for undocumented migrants -- mainly from sub-Saharan Africa -- hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.