The bodies of 19 people have been recovered after a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off the eastern coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said, quoted by the Associated Press, quoted by BTA.
The boat, which was carrying over 70 citizens of Sudan and South Sudan, set sail on September 9 from a beach near the town of Kambout and sank the same day, an IOM spokesman told the AP.
Fourteen people were rescued five days later, and 42 others are still missing. It is unclear how the rescued people managed to survive at sea for so long.
Libya is a major transit point for migrants trying to reach Europe, fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, the AP notes.
The Libyan Red Crescent said on its Facebook page on Monday that it had received an urgent call from authorities in Tobruk, about 60 kilometers west of Kambout, to recover bodies. Authorities and the Red Crescent often cooperate in rescue and recovery operations.