At least 16 of the migrants who drowned on July 25, 2019 after a boat they were traveling was capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya were Ethiopians, Ethiopian office has confirmed.
According to the Tigray regional state communication bureau, the were from Erob districts from the country’s Tigray regional state and about 10 of them were women.
The boat was traveling to Italy, according to the bureau.
The regional state offered condolences to the victims and their families.
Up to 150 Europe-bound migrants, including women and children, were drowned after the boats capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.
A top U.N. official described the shipwreck as “the worst Mediterranean tragedy” so far this year.
The International Rescue Committee was quoted as saying the tragedy was a stark reminder of the humanitarian crisis emerging out of Libya and of the urgent need for search and rescue missions to be resumed in the Mediterranean.
Ayoub Gassim, a spokesman for Libya’s coast guard reportedly said that two boats carrying around 300 migrants capsized around 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital, Tripoli.
MG/abj/APA