British News Agency

According to the Libyan Red Crescent, all confirmed victims so far were passengers on a boat carrying 26 Bangladeshi nationals.

The humanitarian organization did not state whether there were additional casualties on the second boat, which was carrying around 70 people, mostly from Sudan.

The boats were traveling along the Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy, described by the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) as “the world’s deadliest migration route”.

The organization reported that the boats had departed from Al Hums, a port city in northwestern Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent shared footage showing its crews assisting survivors, as well as black body bags lying on the ground.

Every year, hundreds of people die while attempting to reach Southern Europe in overcrowded and unsafe boats.

According to IOM data, more than 1,500 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean so far in 2025. About one third of these incidents occurred off the Libyan coast.