A boat carrying an estimated 61 migrants sank off the eastern coast of Libya near Tobruk on 12 June, according to Libyan maritime security sources and the humanitarian organization Al-Abreen, which monitors migration in the east. Ten people were rescued alive. Over the following days, at least 16 bodies were recovered along the shoreline, though local officials warn the death toll may climb as more remains are washed ashore by currents.

Initial reports cited 11 dead, but the Libyan coast guard and the Red Crescent in Tobruk later confirmed the retrieval of 16 bodies from beaches stretching between Al-Aqila and Ain Al-Ghazala. Medical sources described the remains as being in an advanced state of decomposition, complicating identification. With ten survivors accounted for, the fate of the remaining 35 passengers remains unknown; search operations are ongoing along the eastern coast.

Separately, off the western city of Al-Khums, emergency medical teams treated 13 migrants after their boat capsized. All were rescued without reported fatalities, according to the Emergency Medicine and Support Centre in Tripoli. The incident highlights the perils facing migrants on multiple routes departing Libya.

Libya has functioned as a primary transit point for migrants seeking to reach Europe since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi, a period of persistent instability that has enabled smuggling networks. The central Mediterranean route remains among the world’s deadliest: the International Organization for Migration reports that more than 800 people died or went missing on this crossing between January and mid-May this year, following over 1,300 such losses in 2024.

As of this weekend, no further survivors have been found, and authorities have not disclosed the nationalities of the victims. The search continues, and the provisional toll may be revised.