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123 migrants rescued off Libyan coast

Xinhua, September 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Libyan coast guards on Monday rescued 123 migrants off Libya's Garrabolli coast, according a military source.

Ashraf Al-Badri, a Libyan coast guard official, said one of their reports indicated that a boat which carried 123 migrants of different African nationalities on its way to Italy was rescued about 16 km off Garabolli coast, or some 60 km east of the capital Tripoli. No casualties have been reported.

Al-Badri said the migrants will be taken to an immigration center after necessary legal procedures.

Libya has become a preferred point of transit for refugees wanting to cross to Europe, due to the state of chaos and insecurity the country has been suffering from since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 350,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea this year, and 2,600 died while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, many of whom departed from Libya. Endit