Tripoli [Libya], February 23: Police in Libya have recovered the bodies of five asylum seekers that washed ashore near the capital, Tripoli, as authorities in Greece announced the deaths of three others in a separate incident off the coast of Crete.
The bodies in Libya were found on Saturday by residents of the coastal town of Qasr Al-Akhyar, according to a police officer.
Hassan Al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr Al-Akhyar police station, told the Reuters news agency that the bodies were all of "dark-skinned people". Two of them were women.
He said people in the area had reported seeing a child's body wash ashore before the waves returned it to sea. "We reported to the Red Crescent to recover the bodies," said Ghawil.
"The bodies we found are still intact, and we think there are more bodies to wash ashore."
The tragedy came as Greek authorities were responding to a separate incident in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Athens News Agency reported on Saturday that authorities had recovered three bodies and rescued at least 20 people after a wooden boat carrying migrants and asylum seekers capsized off the coast of Crete.
Most of the survivors were Egyptians and Sudanese people, the agency reported.
They also included four minors. According to the Greek public broadcaster ERT, the wooden boat capsized when passengers were trying to climb up the ladders during a rescue effort involving a commercial ship.
The search for survivors was continuing with four patrol boats, an aircraft, and two ships from the European border agency Frontex, a spokesperson for the Greek coastguard told the AFP news agency.
According to ERT, survivors said about 50 people had been on board the wooden boat.
A second boat carrying about 40 migrants and asylum seekers was spotted in the area, leading to another rescue operation.
Source: Qatar Tribune
