Amman, Feb 9 (Petra) - The Rome branch of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday announced the "death or disappearance of at least 53 migrants, including two infants, after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast while carrying 55 people." According to AKI News, the organization confirmed that two Nigerian women were rescued during a search-and-rescue operation conducted by Libyan authorities. They said that the rubber boat carrying them, along with African migrants and refugees, had departed from the Libyan city of Zawiya but sank six hours after setting sail due to seawater leaking into it.

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, more than 1,300 migrants went missing in the central Mediterranean region in 2025, while the latest shipwreck brings the number of migrants who have died or gone missing on this route this year to at least 484.

//Petra// AF