KHOMS: Twenty migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said, raising to almost 100 the death toll from two such Mediterranean tragedies the same day.

MSF teams in the northwestern city of Sorman “assisted three women as the lone survivors of another shipwreck (Thursday) where 20 people drowned”, the group said on Friday on Twitter.

“Rescued by local fishermen, they were in shock and terrified; they saw loved ones disappear beneath the waves, dying in front of their eyes,” MSF said.

Earlier, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported “a devastating shipwreck which claimed the lives of at least 74 migrants today off the coast of Khoms”, a port city east of Sorman.

It said 47 survivors had been brought back to shore and 31 bodies retrieved, adding that the boat was reported to be carrying more than 120 people.

Seven women were among the survivors, Mokhtar Salem Mohamed from Libya’s interior ministry said at a migrants centre in Khoms, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.

Bodies from that shipwreck were lined up grimly along the beach on Thursday, some still wearing life jackets.

Traumatised survivors sat in shock on the shore, while others huddled under blankets as aid workers distributed food parcels.

“Our boat sailed from an area near Tripoli two days ago,” said Koni Hassan, from Ghana, adding that the engine “broke down yesterday” resulting in the shipwreck.

“There were 120 people on board... many have died,” he added.

The two shipwrecks sparked calls for an end to the conflict in Libya, where human traffickers have taken advantage of persistent violence since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Qadhafi.

The oil-rich North African country has become a key embarkation point for migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, attempting death-defying voyages to Europe to flee war and poverty at home.

While many have drowned at sea, thousands have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguard, which has been backed by Italy and the EU, and returned to Libya.

They mostly end up in detention, often in horrific conditions.

The US embassy to Tripoli said the shipwrecks amounted to “another horrific migrant tragedy — another reminder of the need for a settlement to the #Libya conflict now in order to focus on the prevention of tragedies like this.” European ambassador Jose Sabadell said: “We need to work together to prevent these horrific events from happening again.” So far this year, more than 900 people have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach European shores, it said.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2020