Pakistani, Bangladeshi migrants rescued off Libya

Rome, Jan 10 (IANS/AKI) Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens are among 267 mainly African migrants, including 19 women and 17 children who were saved in two operations off Libya's coast, the Libyan Coast Guard said Wednesday

The migrants were rescued from two rubber dinghies north of the city of Zawiya, according to Libyan Coast Guard on Facebook.

Up to 100 migrants are feared drowned after a rubber dinghy sank off al-Khoms, east of Tripoli on Tuesday, it said.

At least 64 people lost their lives on Saturday in a shipwreck off the eastern town of Garbouli, according to Italy's Coast Guard. Rescuers saved 86 people and recovered eight bodies.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) - the UN migration agency - has described the Mediterranean as the world's deadliest border. At least 3,116 people drowned there last year while trying to cross from North Africa to Europe by sea, it said.

--IANS/AKI

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