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Libyan coast guards rescue 110 illegal immigrants

Xinhua, September 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Libyan coast guards on Thursday rescued 110 illegal immigrants off the coast of Garabulli, east of the capital Tripoli, according to Libyan News Agency reported.

The 110 immigrants, including 14 women, are of different African nationalities.

Last Thursday, a boat with 400 migrants on board sank off Western Libya's Zuwarah coast while on its way to Europe. Nearly 200 illegal immigrants are feared dead.

The incident was followed by another tragedy in which a boat sank off Libya's Al-Khoms coast on Sunday, killing over 30 immigrants.

Libya has fallen in a state of anarchy and insecurity since the fall and death of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the north African country a preferred point of transit for immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 150,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea by mid-July in 2015, many of whom departed from Libya. Endit