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Libyan Red Crescent teams recover 11 refugee bodies

Members of the Libyan Red Crescent carry the body of a refugee washed ashore on the eastern outskirts of the capital, Tripoli, December 11, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Rescue workers have recovered nearly a dozen bodies of drowned refugees washed ashore in Libya.

Red Crescent volunteer Mohannad al-Fallah said on Wednesday, "Teams from the Tripoli branch of the Libyan Red Crescent recovered 11 bodies washed up around Tripoli."

The rescue teams, he added, were sent on Tuesday to several beaches around the capital, in residential areas where people are accustomed to alerting authorities to the sighting of drowned bodies.

The Libyan Red Crescent confirmed in a statement on its Facebook page that the bodies were retrieved on Hay Al Andalus beach and in another area about 15 kilometers west of the city.

Refugees try to pull a child out of the water as they wait for rescue in the Mediterranean Sea, north of Libya, October 4, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Over the past months, many refugees from the Middle East and North Africa have lost their lives trying to reach Europe via the sea.

Libya's coasts now serve as a jumping-off point for those people seeking to reach Europe. Unsafe rubber boats that transport hundreds of refugees often capsize off the western coast of Libya.

The country has been in chaos since 2011 and human traffickers have taken advantage of the situation to boost their lucrative business.

Europe faces a major influx of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria. Many blame support by some Western countries for militants operating in the Middle East as the main reason behind the departure of refugees from their home countries.

 


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