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Libyan Red Crescent recovers 74 bodies in latest tragedy of Mediterranean crossing

Xinhua, February 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

At least 74 bodies of migrants who tried to travel along the Libya-Italy smuggling route were found along the seashore near Libya's northern coastal town of Zawiya, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said Tuesday.

IFRC said that the bodies were found by Libyan Red Crescent volunteers on Monday.

"It appears that the deceased had been on a boat attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe," IFRC said in statement issued on Tuesday, adding that a torn rubber dinghy was reportedly found nearby.

Libyan Red Crescent volunteers collected the bodies of the deceased with dignity, placing them in body bags for transfer to a local hospital, it said.

According to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 270 people migrating are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean in the first weeks of 2017.

In 2016, more than 5,000 deaths at sea were recorded by IOM, making it the deadliest year on record. Endit