90 migrants feared dead after boat capsizes off Libya coast

Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Ninety people are feared to have drowned Friday after a boat capsized off the coast of Libya, the United Nations migration agency said.

The agency said 10 bodies have washed up on shore -- two Libyans and eight Pakistani nationals, the International Organization for Migration said.

Two survivors from the vessel were able to swim ashore and another person was rescued by a fishing boat.

Friday's accident adds to the rising number of migrants and refugees who try to enter Europe by sea, and points to the ongoing danger that comes with crossing the migration corridor.

The U.N. migration agency said in January, more than 6,600 migrants traveled to Europe by boat and nearly 250 are believed to be dead or missing. More than half of the migrants -- 64 percent -- arrive in Italy and most of the others show up in Spain (19 percent) or Greece (16 percent).

In fact, the agency said, January was the second deadliest month in the Mediterranean since last June.

On Wednesday, the IOM reported that 252 migrants were returned to Libyan shores. They included 19 women -- four of whom were pregnant -- and seven children who'd been aboard two rubber dinghies headed for Europe.

"IOM provided food and water to the group when they were back on land and treated those in need of emergency medical assistance," IOM Libya's Olivia Headon said.

Thursday, a group of 23 migrants were returned to Libya -- including one child and two pregnant women, Headon said.

"Almost all migrants who die in the Mediterranean are victims of chance," said Julia Black, coordinator of IOM's Missing Migrants Project, "It is heart-breaking that so often dozens, sometimes hundreds of deaths occur in a single day.

"There is an undeniable trend of tragedy in the Mediterranean."