The ship capsized approximately six hours later after strong waves caused the engine to fail. All passengers, 47 men and two women, were thrown overboard.
Adrift in the sea
The ship drifted for six days before Libyan authorities rescued seven men (four from Sudan, two from Nigeria and one from Cameroon) on November 8.
Among the missing passengers are 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon and two from Nigeria.
“The IOM team provided survivors with emergency medical care, water and food upon arrival at the disembarkation point in coordination with relevant authorities,” the agency said in a statement.
Cooperation and safe migration
The tragic event comes just a few weeks after other deadly incidents off Surman, Libya, and the island of Lampedusa, in southern Italy.
The latest data from the IOM Missing Migrants Project reveals that the death toll in the central Mediterranean has already exceeded 1,000 this year, as people undertake the dangerous sea journey to Europe.
“With this latest shipwreck, the total has increased further, reinforcing the urgent need to strengthen regional cooperation, expand safe and regular migration routes and more effective search and rescue operations to prevent further loss of life,” the statement concluded.
The IOM maintains that humane and orderly migration benefits both “people on the move” and society as a whole.
The deadliest migration route
The Missing Migrants Project was created in 2014. Since then, more than 25,600 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean, which stretches from North Africa to Italy.
It is the deadliest migration route in the world due to factors including the length of the journey, which can last days; increasingly dangerous smuggling patterns, gaps in search and rescue capacity and restrictions on the work of NGOs saving lives at sea.
In addition, migrants often cross the country in overloaded and unseaworthy inflatable boats. As many of these vessels may be launched at the same time, this can complicate search and rescue efforts.
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