Libyan Red Crescent workers have confirmed finding the bodies of at least seven people -- presumed to be migrants -- on beaches east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.
The Libyan Red Crescent said in a statement on Sunday (February 22) that it confirmed having "recovered seven bodies from a beach in Qasr-al-Akhyar belonging to irregular migrants." The Libyan police and Tasnim news in Libya also confirmed the reports.
The bodies were found on Saturday night, reported the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), among them the bodies of three children. The Red Crescent believes there may be more dead and missing out there, which haven’t yet been found.
According to the IOM, the country of origin of those found dead is not yet known.
Hassan al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr al-Akhyar police station, told the news agency Reuters that the body of a child had washed ashore first, but because the waves were fairly high at that point, the body was quickly washed out to sea again. At that point, the coast guard was told to go and look and they found more bodies, of what they described as "dark-skinned people."
Some of the pictures of the bodies showed that they were still within black inflatable lifebuoys as they washed up on the beach, reported Reuters. Qasr al-Akhyar is situated around 73 kilometers east of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
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Missing and dead
More than 2,100 people are believed to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean while attempting to reach Europe in 2025. Since the beginning of this year, at least 540 migrants have already been confirmed dead. Rescuers believe hundreds more, if not even 1,000, may actually be closer to the actual death toll on the Central Mediterranean route between January 1 and February 21.
Last week, at least one person was confirmed dead after an incident off al-Zawiya in Libya. This is not far from where more than 50 people died at the beginning of February in two separate incidents, also confirmed on the IOM Missing Migrants website.
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Bodies wash up in Italy too
Last week, at least 15 bodies washed up on the Italian coast line too. Authorities are still working to identify those bodies in Italy, but they believe they are also of migrants who perhaps perished since the beginning of the year in a series of storms and cyclones that hit the Mediterranean.
A group of Italian charities, including the groups Memoria Mediterranea, the Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI) and Mediterranea Saving Humans, as well as Alarm Phone, called on the Italian government to take swift action in identifying the bodies of those found washed up in Italy.
These groups estimate that more than ten boats departed Libya as Cyclone Harry hit the Mediterranean in mid-January. They believe that the bodies found recently in Italy could originate from shipwrecks that happened at that time, since the bodies were in a worse state of decomposition, compared to those found in Libya.
Spokespeople with Alarm Phone and Memoria Mediterranea say they have been contacted by the family members of numerous migrants who have been missing since that time.
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At least four dead off Crete
In another part of the Mediterranean, at least four migrants died in waters off the Greek island of Crete. Around 20 people, reportedly mostly from Egypt and South Sudan, were rescued by the crew of a commercial ship on Friday (February 20).
On Monday afternoon, the IOM confirmed in a statement that the bodies of three men and one woman had been recovered at the time of rescuing 16 males and four minors from the overturned boat. However, around 30 migrants are still believed to be missing, feared dead, stated the IOM.
The vessel, stated the IOM, departed Tobruk in Libya on February 19 and capsized around 20 miles off Crete.
According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, an accident occurred as the commercial ship approached the small wooden migrant boat to try and help, after being ordered there by the Greek coast guard. Apparently some of the migrants on board tried to climb up the ladders of the commercial ship, and their boat capsized because of “sudden movement.”
A search for survivors was carried out with four patrol boats, an aircraft and two Frontex ships, a spokesperson for the Greek coast guard confirmed to AFP.
It is believed that the people on board the boat that capsized in Greek waters also set off originally from Libya.
This brings the total number of dead and missing to at least 606 since the beginning of the year across the whole Mediterranean, stated the IOM in a press release.
With AFP and Reuters
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