At least 61 feared dead in migrant boat disaster off the Libyan coast

At least 61 people were missing and presumed dead after a boat sank off Libya's coast, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Saturday night, the Europe-bound vessel was carrying African migrants.

The migrants are believed to have died because of high waves which swamped their vessel after it left from Zuwara, on Libya's northwest coast, the IOM's Libya office said in a statement to AFP, citing survivors from the 25 people who were rescued.

The survivors said there were approximately 86 migrants aboard, including women and children. Their nationalities were primarily Nigeria, Gambia and other African countries.

Twenty-five people were rescued and transferred to a Libyan detention centre, said the IOM. The survivors were all in good condition and had received medical support.

Libya and Tunisia are principal departure points for migrants risking dangerous sea voyages in hopes of reaching Europe, via Italy.

More than 153,000 migrants arrived in Italy this year from Tunisia and Libya, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The United Nations has described the central Mediterranean migration route toward Europe as the world's deadliest, claiming hundreds of lives each year.

Flavio Di Giacomo, an IOM spokesperson, wrote on social media platform X on Saturday that more than 2,250 people died this year on the central Mediterranean migrant route, a "dramatic figure which demonstrates that unfortunately not enough is being done to save lives at sea."

In Libya, more than a decade of violence since the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising helped turn the country into a fertile ground for human traffickers who have been accused of abuses ranging from extortion to slavery.