Tripoli, Libya – At least 53 migrants and refugees have died after an overcrowded inflatable boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, according to the United Nations’ migration agency. The vessel, which was carrying 55 people including two infants, overturned several hours after departing from Libya’s north-western shoreline, highlighting the continued dangers of irregular migration routes to Europe.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said only two people survived the incident. Both survivors are Nigerian women who were rescued by Libyan authorities and later received emergency medical care. One of the women lost her husband in the tragedy, while the other reported that her two babies did not survive the sinking.
Okay News reports that the rubber dinghy left the coastal city of al-Zawiya, west of Tripoli, at about 11:00 p.m. local time on Thursday. Survivors told IOM officials that the boat began taking on water roughly six hours into the journey before capsizing in the early hours of Friday near the town of Zuwara. The circumstances surrounding the delay in public reporting of the incident remain unclear.
The latest deaths add to a growing toll in the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s deadliest migration routes. IOM says nearly 500 migrants have been reported dead or missing so far in 2026 while attempting to cross from Libya to Europe. In January alone, at least 375 people were believed to have died or disappeared during a series of largely unreported shipwrecks amid severe winter weather, with the true number feared to be significantly higher.
Libya has become a key departure point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa since the collapse of state authority following the killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Many migrants face prolonged detention, abuse, and exploitation inside the country before being pushed onto unsafe boats by human traffickers and smuggling networks seeking profit.
The IOM has repeatedly warned that overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels are a major factor behind the rising death toll at sea. The agency has called for stronger international cooperation to dismantle trafficking networks, improve accountability, and expand safe and legal migration pathways as a means of preventing further loss of life.
