53 migrants dead or missing in shipwreck off Libyan coast, UN agency says, with 2 babies among those missing

Geneva – The United Nations migration agency said Monday that 53 people were dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. Only two survivors were rescued.

The International Organization for Migration said the boat capsized Friday north of Zuwara, a town on Libya’s northwest coast that is about 180 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, which many migrants try to reach by boat from the African coast.

“Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search and rescue operation by Libyan authorities,” the IOM said in a statement, adding that one of the survivors said she lost her husband and the other said she “lost her two babies in the tragedy.”

The IOM said its teams provided the two survivors with emergency medical care upon disembarking.

“According to survivors’ accounts, the boat carrying migrants and refugees of African nationalities left Al-Zawiya, Libya, around 11:00 p.m. on February 5. Approximately six hours later, it sank after taking on water,” the agency said. “IOM regrets the loss of life in another deadly incident along the central Mediterranean route.”

The Geneva-based agency said smuggling and smuggling networks were exploiting migrants along the route from northern Africa to southern Europe, profiting from dangerous crossings on unseaworthy boats and exposing people to “serious abuses.”

He called for stronger international cooperation to tackle the networks, along with safe and regular migration pathways to reduce risks and save lives.

According to the IOM, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing after shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean in January alone, and hundreds more deaths are believed to have gone unrecorded.

“These repeated incidents underline the persistent and deadly risks faced by migrants and refugees attempting dangerous crossings,” the UN agency said, adding that more than 1,300 migrants went missing in the central Mediterranean in 2025 and, this year, the total as of Monday was at least 484.