Nearly all passengers are believed to have died after a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Libya over the weekend. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 53 people, including two babies, had perished in the tragedy, with only two people believed to have survived the sinking. The number of fatalities off the Libyan coast so far in 2026 has been exceptionally high.
The rubber boat with 55 migrants on board overturned in the Mediterranean Sea just north of Zuwara in northwest Libya shortly before midnight on the night of February 5 into February 6.
The only survivors are believed to be two Nigerian women, whose lives were saved by Libyan authorities during an extensive search-and-rescue operation. One of the two survivors said she had lost both of her two babies during the incident while the other reported losing her husband.
Only two survivors
The survivors said the rubber boat had departed from the Libyan coast in the town of Zawiya — some 60 kilometers east from the site of the maritime tragedy.
They explained that the boat started to take on water about six hours into the journey, ultimately resulting in its capsizing.
They also added that there were various African nationalities on board the small vessel.
The IOM said in a statement that its local teams provided the two surviving women with emergency medical care.
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A worrying trend in 2026
The first few weeks of 2026 have been highly deadly on the Central Mediterranean migrant route, which typically leads from Libya or Tunisia to Italy.
According to IOM data, at least 375 migrants have been reported dead or missing after a series of shipwrecks along that route in January alone; this latest incident brings the number of migrants who have been reported as dead or missing on this route to at least 484 so far this year.
IOM said it believed that there might be hundreds more deaths unrecorded during this short period alone; the effects of Cyclone Harry are believed to have played a role in this unusually high fatality rate.
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The majority of those fatal incidents were "invisible" shipwrecks, according to the IOM — i.e. incidents where the departure of the vessel had not been noticed or recorded.
The numbers hint at a steep upward trend in fatalities along this route: According to IOM's Missing Migrants Project, more than 1,300 migrants went missing in all of 2025.
Going by the official number of 484 deaths in the first five weeks of this year, the current fatality rate for 2026 reflects well over a third of the entire rate for last year.
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Libya: Where smugglers put profits before people
IOM stressed that it mourned "the loss of life in yet another deadly incident along the Central Mediterranean route" in its statement, adding that "trafficking and smuggling networks continue to exploit migrants" while "profiting from dangerous crossings in unseaworthy boats."
The organization also emphasized the fact that smugglers expose people to "severe abuse and protection risks" especially in Libya, where human rights violations ranging from sexual abuse to torture to slavery are well-documented.
In many instances, local authorities in Libya have been accused of working closely together with private companies running detention centers for migrants, which is where the majority of these abuses are recorded.
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