53 migrants, including two babies, dead or missing after boat capsizes off Libya

Fifty-three irregular migrants, including two babies, were dead or missing after a rubber boat carrying 55 people capsized off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration said on Monday.

The boat departed from Zawiya on Thursday and then overturned off Zuwara on Friday, the IOM said in a statement, citing the survivors. Zawiya and Zuwara are coastal towns west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

"Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search-and-rescue operation by Libyan authorities. One survivor reported losing her husband, while the other said she lost her two babies in the tragedy," the IOM said.

More than 1,300 migrants have gone missing in the Central Mediterranean in 2025, according to the UN agency.

In January alone, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing in the area following multiple "invisible" shipwreck amid extreme weather, with hundreds more deaths believed to have gone unrecorded.

"The latest incident brings the number of migrants reported dead or missing on the route in 2026 to at least 484," the agency said.

Libya has become a transit route for asylum seekers and irregular migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean.