The Libyan Red Crescent says two boats carrying migrants capsized off al-Khums on Thursday night, killing at least four people. One vessel carried 26 Bangladeshis (four confirmed dead); a second carried 69 people including Egyptians and many Sudanese, eight of them children. Coastguards and the Al-Khums Port Security Agency rescued survivors and handed recovered bodies to prosecutors. The incident follows other recent shipwrecks and missing-person reports, and has renewed international calls for Libya to address conditions in migrant detention centres.
At Least Four Dead After Two Migrant Boats Capsize Off al-Khums, Libya
The Libyan Red Crescent says two boats carrying migrants capsized off al-Khums on Thursday night, killing at least four people. One vessel carried 26 Bangladeshis (four confirmed dead); a second carried 69 people including Egyptians and many Sudanese, eight of them children. Coastguards and the Al-Khums Port Security Agency rescued survivors and handed recovered bodies to prosecutors. The incident follows other recent shipwrecks and missing-person reports, and has renewed international calls for Libya to address conditions in migrant detention centres.
08:37 AM, 11/16/2025Society
Two migrant boats capsize off al-Khums; at least four confirmed dead
The Libyan Red Crescent reported that at least four people were killed when two boats carrying migrants and asylum seekers capsized off the coast of al-Khums on Thursday night.
According to the organisation, the first vessel was carrying 26 people from Bangladesh; four passengers from that boat were confirmed dead. The second boat carried 69 people, including two Egyptians and dozens of Sudanese — eight of whom were children — though the organisation did not specify the final fate of everyone aboard.
Al-Khums is a coastal city about 118 km (73 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli. Coastguards and the Al-Khums Port Security Agency participated in the rescue operation, the Red Crescent said. The recovered bodies were handed over to the relevant authorities under instructions from the city’s public prosecution.
Photos released by the Libyan Red Crescent showed bodies wrapped in black plastic bags laid out on the floor and volunteers providing first aid to survivors. Other images showed rescued people wrapped in thermal blankets sitting on the floor.
This tragedy is one of several recent maritime incidents off Libya’s coast. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday that at least 42 migrants were missing and presumed dead after a rubber boat sank near the Al Buri oilfield. In mid-October, 61 migrant bodies were recovered west of Tripoli, and in September the IOM reported that at least 50 people died when a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire.
At a recent United Nations meeting in Geneva, several states — including the United Kingdom, Spain, Norway and Sierra Leone — urged Libyan authorities to close detention centres where rights groups allege migrants and refugees have been detained, abused and sometimes killed. The incidents underscore the ongoing risks faced by people using Libya as a transit route to Europe amid conflict and poverty in the region.