53 migrants dead or missing after rubber boat capsizes off Libya

Fifty-three people are dead or missing after a rubber boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the International Organization for Migration said Monday. The vessel was carrying 55 migrants and refugees from various African countries.

The boat departed from Al-Zawiya, a coastal city in northwestern Libya approximately 27 miles west of Tripoli, at around 11 p.m. on February 5. According to survivor accounts, the vessel capsized approximately six hours later after taking on water. The incident occurred north of Zuwara, also in northwestern Libya.

Only two survivors were rescued during a search and rescue operation by Libyan authorities. Both were Nigerian women. The IOM provided them with emergency medical care upon disembarkation. One survivor reported losing her husband in the tragedy. The other survivor said she lost her two babies when the boat capsized.

The IOM said the boat was carrying migrants and refugees of African nationalities. The exact nationalities of those aboard, beyond the two Nigerian survivors, were not specified in available accounts.

This capsizing adds to a mounting toll of deaths in Mediterranean crossings this year. According to the IOM's Missing Migrants Project, at least 484 migrants have been reported dead or missing in the central Mediterranean since the start of 2026. In January alone, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing attempting Mediterranean routes from Libya.

Libya has served as a staging point for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa seeking to reach Europe, particularly since the death of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The central Mediterranean route remains one of the world's deadliest migration paths. More than 33,400 migrants have died or gone missing in Mediterranean waters since the International Organization for Migration began tracking deaths at sea in 2014.