LIBYA-MIGRANTS Libyan navy rescues 108 African migrants after their boat engine fails

Record ID: 348817

  • Title: LIBYA-MIGRANTS Libyan navy rescues 108 African migrants after their boat engine fails
  • Date: 21st November 2014
  • Summary: GHARBOLI, LIBYA (NOVEMBER 20, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LIBYA NAVY BOAT CARRYING MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF THE BOAT APPROACHING LIBYAN COAST VARIOUS OF ILLEGAL MIGRANT ON THE BOAT BOAT ARRIVING THE COAST MIGRANT AT THE BOAT VARIOUS OF MIGRANT LEAVING THE BOAT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN NAVY OFFICER SAYING: "We rescued illegal migrants this evening around 3 p.m., their number i
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAHQFF8P4G0DRVXKYKLASA1OD
  • Story Text: The Libyan navy rescued more than 100 African migrants stranded at sea in the middle of the Mediterranean on Thursday (November 20).
    Navy officials said that they received a call for help from the migrants after they were adrift for five days, following the breakdown of their boat's engine as they attempted to reach Europe.
    "We rescued illegal migrants this evening around 3 p.m., their number is around 108 and they were on a rubber boat", Libyan navy official said.
    Libya is a major departure point for this journey, and human traffickers are exploiting the political chaos and lawlessness that has blighted the country since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising in 2011.
    Libya, whose fragile government has been unable to impose its authority on large parts of the country, has become an increasingly common takeoff point for illegal migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
    The United Nations said in August that nearly 2,000 people fleeing Africa and the Middle East have drowned in the Mediterranean this year, most of them in the past three months as they tried to reach Europe from Libya.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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