Three arrested over shipwreck off Libyan coast

Three suspects were arrested in Libya on Saturday over possible involvement in recent migrant crises that nearly killed 200 people, the authorities said.

A statement from Tripoli's Special Intervention Squad said an organised crime group of three members have been arrested. The group was involved in human trafficking and managed many migrant boats to Europe through the Mediterranean, Xinhua reported.

The three suspects are detained in Zuwarah for investigation for now.

Nearly 200 illegal immigrants are feared dead on Thursday off Libya's Zuwarah coast when a boat overcrowded with 400 people sank on its way to Europe.

Eighty-two bodies have washed ashore, while almost 100 people are still missing, a Libyan coast guard said, adding that the immigrants on board are from Southern Sahara, Pakistan, Morocco, Syria, and Bangladesh.

Due to the power vacuum and state of chaos since the fall of its former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has become a preferred point of transit for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 150,000 migrants have reached Europe by sea by mid-July in 2015, many of whom departed from Libya.