– Just 3 migrants survive after boat capsizes off Libya coast, says UN migration agency
By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) – An estimated 90 migrants drowned after a boat capsized off the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday morning, the UN migration agency said.

There were just three survivors, International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman Olivia Headon told a press conference in the UN at Geneva via phone.

The migrants were trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

According to survivors’ testimony, 90 migrants — mostly Pakistanis — drowned in the accident, Headon said.

A total of “6,624 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through 28 January. This compares with 5,983 coming ashore during a similar period in 2017,” the IOM said.

Some 246 migrant deaths were seen in the Mediterranean this January, the IOM noted.

[Archive photo: Migrants in boat being rescued Libyan coast in June 2015. Photographer: Hazem Turkia/AA]