(MENAFN) At least four people perished Saturday when two overcrowded vessels sank off Al Khums on Libya's western shoreline, according to the Libyan Red Crescent, which disclosed the tragic incidents through an official Facebook announcement.

The dual capsizing incidents unfolded Thursday night, claiming the lives of migrants attempting perilous Mediterranean crossings toward Europe. The first vessel, ferrying 26 Bangladeshi nationals, resulted in four fatalities when the boat went down. A second craft carrying 69 undocumented migrants—comprising 67 Sudanese nationals and two Egyptians, including eight children—also succumbed to the sea.

Emergency response operations mobilized immediately. The Libyan Red Crescent coordinated with the coast guard and port security authority to execute rescue efforts, retrieve deceased victims, and process casualties in accordance with established humanitarian protocols. The organization noted that its emergency team managed recovery operations throughout the incident response.

The catastrophe exemplifies an accelerating humanitarian crisis unfolding along Libya's coastline. Coastal communities have witnessed a sharp uptick in body retrieval operations and rescue missions targeting migrants stranded at sea as smuggling networks intensify efforts to transport undocumented passengers across the Mediterranean. Recent weeks have documented a surge in comparable disasters, underscoring the deadly consequences of irregular migration routes through North African waters.

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