By: TPA News Desk | editor@thepointafricanews.com

CAIRO/TRIPOLI– At least 60 people are missing and feared dead after two separate shipwrecks occurred off the coast of Libya last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. The would-be migrants were attempting the perilous crossing from Africa into Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

According to IOM’s search and rescue teams on the ground, the first tragedy took place on June 12, 2025, near Alshab port in Tripolitania, Libya. In this incident, 21 people are reported missing, with only five survivors found. Among those feared dead are six Eritreans (including three women and three children), five Pakistanis, four Egyptians, and two Sudanese men. The identities of four others remain unknown.

The second shipwreck occurred the following day, June 13, 2025, approximately 35 kilometers (22 miles) west of Tobruk. The sole survivor of this incident, who was rescued by fishermen, reported that 39 people were lost at sea. In the days following this tragedy, three bodies washed ashore: two on Umm Aqiqih beach on June 14 and another on Elramla beach in downtown Tobruk on June 15. Identification efforts are ongoing with support from members of the Sudanese community.

Othman Belbeisi, IOM’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, expressed deep concern over the escalating fatalities. “With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,” Belbeisi stated.

The IOM’s updated data for 2025 indicates a grim reality for migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing, with at least 743 people having died so far this year on this route. The Central Mediterranean continues to be the deadliest known migration route in the world, marked by increasingly dangerous smuggling practices, limited rescue capacity, and growing restrictions on humanitarian operations.