At least 40 people died and 51 others were rescued after a boat carrying mostly sub-Saharan African migrants sank off Libya's coast east of Tripoli, the Libyan government said on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The vessel appeared to have got into difficulty around 37 miles east of Tripoli, Rami Kaal, a spokesman for the Libyan ministry of interior said, the AP reported.
Libyan navy spokesman Ayoub Bilqassem said the bottom of the small boat collapsed, causing the boat to capsized with 52 people, mostly Africans, according to the AP.
Those on the boat were immediately rescued and four bodies were found, the AP reported. Bilqassem said more than 20 bodies were found later with at least 54 missing.
Interior Ministry spokesman Rami Kaal said another 40 bodies were washed ashore since the capsizing at al-Qarbouli, 30 miles east of the capital, according to the AP.
Libya's porous borders with its sub-Saharan neighbors and its proximity to Italy and Malta across the Mediterranean have made the North African country a common transit route for migrants trying to reach Europe, according to the AP.
With their coast guard, navy and armed forces ill-equipped and still in training, Libyan officials want more help from Western partners to stem the flow of illegal migrants trying to cross through Libya to Europe, the AP reported.
In March, Italy's navy rescued more than 4,000 migrants from overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean sea south of Sicily in just four days, according to the AP.
Many migrants pay more than $1,000 to criminal gangs for the sea journey from Libya, where the government struggles to control a country still full of weapons and brigades of former rebels since the civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the AP reported.
Libya has become a prime springboard for tens of thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe in rickety, crowded boats, according to the AP.
