At least 53 migrants, including two babies, are dead or missing after a rubber boat capsized off the coast of Libya, the UN said on Monday.
The vessel, which was carrying 55 migrants, capsized north of the coastal city of Zuwara on February 6, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement. Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search operation by Libyan authorities. One survivor reported losing her husband, while the other said she lost her two babies.
"IOM mourns the loss of life in yet another deadly incident along the Central Mediterranean route. IOM teams provided the two survivors with emergency medical care upon disembarkation, in co-ordination with relevant authorities," it said.
The survivors said the boat, carrying migrants and refugees from African countries, departed from Al Zawiya, in Libya, at about 11pm on February 5. It capsized about six hours later after taking on water.
In January, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing following shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean amid extreme weather, IOM data shows. Hundreds more deaths are believed to have gone unrecorded.
According to the organisation, more than 1,300 migrants went missing in the Central Mediterranean in 2025. The latest incident brings the number of migrants reported dead or missing in the area this year to at least 484.
Since the downfall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, Libya has become a transit route for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Many are fleeing conflict and poverty.
But it is one of the world's most dangerous maritime migration routes. In November, 42 people went missing and are presumed dead after a rubber boat carrying 49 migrants and refugees capsized off Libya, the UN said.
In October, authorities said the bodies of 61 migrants were recovered from Libya's west coast over a period of two weeks. A month earlier, the IOM said at least 50 people died when a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off the country's coast.
