A boat carrying 33 Sudanese migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea roughly 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Tobruk, an eastern Libyan port, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. U.N. officials reported Thursday that at least 17 people aboard died in the capsizing, nine remain missing, and only seven survived the wreck.
The seven survivors were recovered by the Libyan navy, the Libyan coast guard and the Libyan Red Crescent after being stranded at sea for several days. The IOM said some of the migrants died of hunger and thirst while adrift, though the exact timing of the capsizing was not immediately clear. The medical condition of the survivors was not disclosed.
The Libyan Red Crescent posted photographs to its social media channels on Thursday showing rescue crews transferring several bodies in black bags to shore. No additional details regarding the identities of the deceased or their specific origins were provided beyond the group being Sudanese migrants.
Libya has served as a primary transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty across Africa and the Middle East since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country’s fractured political landscape has enabled smuggling networks to operate along its extensive North African coastline.
The vessel was bound for Greece when it went down. The disaster follows another incident earlier this month, when more than 80 migrants went missing after a separate boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean.
The IOM said in early April that 2026 has recorded the deadliest start to a calendar year for migrant crossings in the Mediterranean since 2014. Through the first months of the year, 765 deaths were documented along the Central Mediterranean route alone, marking an approximate 150 percent increase over the same period in 2025.
IOM Director General Amy Pope told the Associated Press earlier this month that the agency is observing a demographic shift among migrants attempting the crossing, with a growing number originating from Sudan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.