Up to 150 have died in what is thought be deadliest incident in Mediterranean this year

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Dozens of bodies have been recovered from the Mediterranean, a day after the shipwreck that caused the deaths of up to 150 migrants.

Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes in the sea, in what a senior UN official called the “the worst Mediterranean tragedy” so far this year.

Fishermen told AFP they saw bodies as they waded through the wreckage searching for survivors: “There were bodies floating on the surface of the water where the boat went down.”

One survivor, Abdallah Osman, said the boat making the perilous journey from Libya started to fill with water about 90 minutes after setting out to sea on Wednesday night. Then its engine broke down.

Over the following six hours, men, women and children began to drown.

“Shortly after dawn, fishermen came out with their small boats and started taking us to shore, five at a time ... That went on until nine in the morning,” he told AFP.

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At about 10.30 am Anne-Cecilia Kjaer, a nurse activity manager at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), arrived at a military base in Khoms in Libya, where the survivors were recovering.

“It was a very, very hot day. People were sitting against a wall to find some shade. They were barely dressed – some were wearing just a towel or underwear. They were just sitting in the shade, in shock.

“One man from Sudan, who was literally pulled out of the water, told our team that he had seen his wife and kids drown. He seemed aghast, just sitting there in shock.”

Kjaer said those on the boat originated from Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt and Bangladesh.

The survivors told MSF medical workers they had left the Libyan coast on Wednesday evening at sunset, “possibly on board three boats lashed to each other”.

As they continued towards the shore, the boat started to fill with water. “Most of the children couldn’t swim, and even those who could swim sank because of fatigue,” Kjaer said.

Thursday’s shipwreck is thought to be the deadliest Mediterranean crossing this year with an estimated 150 dead. The dangerous crossings from north Africa to European shores peaked after the 2011 uprisings across the Middle East.

EU leaders have made efforts to deter migrant crossings, and has partnered with Libyan authorities and provided training and funding to Libya’s coastguard.

In June, Italy’s rightwing government introduced controversial rules closing Italian ports to migrant rescue ships, threatening rule-breakers with fines of €50,000 (£45,000) and the impounding of vessels.

Rights groups say the EU’s retreat from actively participating in rescue operations have contributed to deaths in the Mediterranean. Without coordinated rescue efforts from Europe, capsize victims rely only on Libya’s coastguard, fishermen and small voluntary rescue boats.

“Because we don’t have the means, we’ll have to wait for the sea to return the bodies so we can pick them up,” a member of the coastguard told AFP.

A group of 84 rescued people were taken to Tajoura detention centre and then turned away, said a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration. Tajoura is on the frontlines of fiery clashes between rival armed militias. An estimated 60 people died in bombings there earlier this month. Some of those rescued are thought to have been released in Tripoli.

Rights organisations fear for the safety of rescued migrants who are sent to detention centres in Libya.

“Since the international community has very little presence in Libya, which is in a state of complete political instability, it is paramount that the European states stop relying on the Libyan coastguard to perform search and rescue operations,” said Marta Foresti, the director of the human mobility initiative at the Overseas Development Institute thinktank.

“You can’t even imagine how these people are suffering,” said Kjaer. “Once you are in the middle of it – when you try to put words to it – then you realise that there are no words to describe their suffering.”