Cairo: A boat carrying Europe-bound migrants capsized off the Libyan coast Tuesday, leaving one person dead and 22 missing, Libyan authorities said. The coast guard in the eastern Libyan town of Tobruk said the boat was carrying 32 migrants and that nine have been rescued. Survivors are being taken to a port in Tobruk, the coast guard said.
The shipwreck was the latest sea tragedy off the North African nation which has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Libya was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the disorder, smuggling in migrants across Libya's extensive borders, which it shares with six nations. The migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages.
