At least 50 migrants feared drowned after ships capsized off Libyan coast

At least 50 migrants are feared drowned after three ships carrying 300 people capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday.

As reported by Sputnik news agency, the Libyan coastguards received a distress call on their SOS devices. By the time, the coast guards came to rescue the migrants, one of the ships had already sunk and only 16 people could be saved.

Quoting the survivors, Italian newspaper Repubblica reported that at least 50 migrants got drowned as a result of the crash.

Casualties are feared to rise.

"We found the migrants. Unfortunately, we could not trace anybody or other survivors. Search is still on," said the coast guard commander, Nasr al-Qamoud.

In another incident, on January 6, Libyan coast guards found a shipwreck, where 64 migrants had been drowned.

Also, according to the Italian newspaper, the Libyan authorities have managed to save around 700 people over the past three days.

Europe is experiencing a major influx of migrants who have been trying to cross the continent, mostly through illegal means, since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 and the spate in the violence casued by the terrorist group, the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.
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