53 migrants dead or missing in shipwreck off Libya coast, U.N. agency says, with 2 babies among those missing

Geneva – The United Nations migration agency said Monday that 53 people were dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast. Only two survivors were rescued.

The International Organization for Migration said the boat overturned Friday north of Zuwara, a city on the northwest coast of Libya that’s about 180 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa, which many migrants attempt to reach by boat from the African coastline.

“Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search-and-rescue operation by Libyan authorities,” the IOM said in a statement, adding that one of the survivors said she lost her husband and the other said “she lost her two babies in the tragedy.”

The IOM said its teams provided the two survivors with emergency medical care upon disembarkation.

“According to survivor accounts, the boat — carrying migrants and refugees of African nationalities departed from Al-Zawiya, Libya, at around 11:00 p.m. on February 5. Approximately six hours later, it capsized after taking on water,” the agency said. “IOM mourns the loss of life in yet another deadly incident along the Central Mediterranean route.”

The Geneva-based agency said trafficking and smuggling networks were exploiting migrants along the route from north Africa to southern Europe, profiting from dangerous crossings in unseaworthy boats while exposing people to “severe abuse.”  

It called for stronger international cooperation to tackle the networks, alongside safe and regular migration pathways to reduce risks and save lives.

According to the IOM, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing following shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean in January alone, with hundreds more deaths believed to have gone unrecorded. 

“These repeated incidents underscore the persistent and deadly risks faced by migrants and refugees attempting the dangerous crossing,” the U.N. agency said, adding that over 1,300 migrants went missing in the Central Mediterranean in 2025 and, this year, already the total as of Monday was at least 484.