At least 57 bodies recovered after two boats capsize off Libya coast

At least 57 bodies have been recovered as two boats sank in the Mediterranean Sea off different towns in western Libya, according to a coast guard officer and an aid worker.

A one of the survivors told officials that there were about 80 people on one of the boats that was heading for Europe.

According to reports, the refugees were from Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt.

The International Organization for Migration said in a statement earlier this month that 441 people had died in early 2023 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe, the most deaths over a three-month period recorded in the past six years.

The state of violence and lawlessness in Libya other African countries turned the region into fertile ground for terrorists and other outlawed groups to operate, forcing thousands of people to flee their house to seek shelter in other countries.