HORROR ON THE MEDITERRANEAN: 42 MIGRANTS INCLUDING NIGERIANS FEARED DEAD AS BOAT CAPSIZES OFF LIBYA

A heartbreaking maritime tragedy has struck off the Libyan coast, where 42 migrants — including Nigerians — are feared dead after their overcrowded rubber boat capsized near the Al Buri Oil Field in the Mediterranean Sea.

According to a report released by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday, the ill-fated vessel, carrying 49 passengers (47 men and 2 women), had departed from Zuwara in Libya at about 3:00 a.m. on November 3. Merely six hours into the perilous journey, violent waves battered the fragile boat, causing its engine to fail and sending all onboard into the cold, unforgiving sea.

Only seven survivors — four Sudanese, two Nigerians, and one Cameroonian — were miraculously rescued after drifting helplessly at sea for six days. The IOM confirmed that 42 others remain missing and are presumed dead, among them 29 Sudanese, eight Somalis, three Cameroonians, and two Nigerians.

> “The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) mourns the loss of life in yet another tragic incident off the coast of Libya,” the statement read. “After drifting at sea for six days, only seven men were rescued. Tragically, 42 individuals remain missing and are presumed dead.”

The survivors, weak and traumatized, were provided with emergency medical care, food, and water upon their rescue, coordinated by Libyan authorities and IOM teams.

This latest disaster adds to a growing list of deadly shipwrecks in the region, coming just weeks after similar fatal incidents off Surman and Lampedusa. It underscores the grave risks migrants continue to face along the Central Mediterranean Route — one of the world’s most perilous migration corridors.

According to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, the death toll on the Central Mediterranean has already surpassed 1,000 this year alone, and this latest shipwreck pushes the number even higher.

The organisation renewed its call for stronger regional cooperation, expanded safe migration routes, and enhanced search and rescue operations to stem the tide of preventable deaths in the Mediterranean.

> “This tragedy is yet another reminder of the human cost of migration mismanagement,” the IOM lamented. “Every life lost at sea is one too many.”

As global attention turns once again to the Mediterranean’s deadly waters, humanitarian agencies are urging African governments and European partners to address the root causes of migration — poverty, conflict, and despair — that continue to drive thousands to risk everything in search of a better life.