CAIRO—At least 74 bodies of African migrants have washed ashore in western Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent said Tuesday, the latest tragedy at sea along a perilous but increasingly popular trafficking route to Europe.
The bodies were found near the western Libyan city of Zawiya on Monday, Red Crescent spokesman Mohammed al-Misrati told The Associated Press, adding that he feared more might surface. He said a torn rubber boat, the kind that usually carry up to 120 people, was found nearby.
The Red Crescent’s branch in Zawiya said there are bodies still floating out at sea but it has no means to retrieve them.
The International Organization of Migration said the traffickers took the engine and left the boat to drift. Another 12 migrants remain missing and are “presumed drowned,” and a sole survivor was transferred to a hospital in a coma, the U.N. migration agency said on Twitter.
The Red Crescent posted photographs of dozens of bodies in white and black bags, lined up along the shore. Al-Misrati said the bodies would be taken to a cemetery for unidentified people in the capital, Tripoli. The Red Crescent appealed for help on Facebook, saying there are no vehicles to transport the bodies.
Al-Misrati had initially said the bodies were found overnight Tuesday, but later clarified that they were recovered Monday afternoon and evening.
Libyan coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim said over 500 migrants were rescued at sea on Friday and Saturday off the coast of Sebratha, a city to the west of Zawiya. The migrants’ boats were about 5-7 miles (8-11 kilometers) from the coast.
