海角大神

Boat carrying about 170 migrants sinks off Libyan coast

Seventeen of about 170 migrants were rescued after their boat sunk in rough seas off the Libyan coast late Friday. The local coast guard is searching for the remaining passengers.

A wooden boat with around 170 African migrants on board trying to reach聽聽has sunk in rough seas off the Libyan coast, a spokesman for the聽聽said on Saturday.

Migrants have been streaming out of聽聽in rickety boats in rising numbers for years. So far in 2014, the total number reaching Italian shores has passed 100,000, the Italian government said this week.

"The coast guards have rescued 17 of the illegal migrants," navy spokesman聽聽said. A search for the rest of the passengers was underway, he added.

The boat sank late on Friday near Qarabouli, east of聽, a common launchpad used by human traffickers smuggling people to聽, Qassem said.

Local coast guard official聽聽told Reuters Television they had been alerted to the sinking by local fishermen at dawn on Saturday morning.

Abdellatif said the coast guard in Qarabouli had no equipment and so is forced to borrow fishing vessels and tug boats to carry out their rescue missions.

He said they had informed the hospital, ministry of health and the criminal investigations department of the accident and that all three had defused to collect the bodies.

All of the people rescued had been released as there was nowhere to detain them, he said.

罢丑别听聽told Reuters they were not involved in the incident and had no further details.

聽is carrying out the bulk of patrols in the聽聽Sea aimed at preventing major tragedies involving migrants. More than 70,000 people have been rescued through the "Mare Nostrum" (Our Sea) mission of patrols which聽聽began last October.

Additional reporting by Isla Binnie in Rome; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky