At least four dead after migrants boats sink in Mediterranean

At least four people died when two boats carrying about 100 migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Saturday, rescue teams said.

All those confirmed dead so far by the Libyan Red Crescent were passengers on the boat carrying 26 Bangladeshi citizens.

The humanitarian aid group did not say whether there were any other deaths among passengers on the second boat, which sank while carrying about 70 people, mostly Sudanese.

The boats were using the Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy, “the deadliest known migration route in the world” according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The organization said the boats set out from Al Khums, a port city in northwestern Libya.

The Libyan Red Crescent shared images of the crew delivering aid to survivors and black body bags lying on the ground.

Every year, hundreds of people die trying to cross Southern Europe on overcrowded and unsafe boats.

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

The North African country was the departure point for the majority of some 59,000 people who arrived in Europe via the Central Mediterranean route this year, according to Frontex, the European Union’s border security agency.

Dozens of migrants went missing on a small boat in Libya earlier this week and were presumed dead after the boat capsized in the Mediterranean.

Seven survivors from Sudan, Somalia, Cameroon and Nigeria were rescued after being lost at sea for nearly a week.