A crammed boat carrying Europe-bound migrants capsized off Libya, killing at least eight people, while 58 others were still missing, the Libyan Red Crescent said Wednesday.
The vessel was carrying at least 150 migrants, 84 of whom survived and were taken to state-run detention centers for migrants, said Tawfik al-Shukri, spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent – which handles search and rescue operations.
The shipwreck occurred Tuesday off the Libyan town of Garabulli, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of the capital of Tripoli. Eyewitnesses to the disaster said the migrants had hoped to reach Italy, according to the Red Crescent.
Bodies washed ashore near the town of Castelverde, Reuters reported. Al-Shukri said the dead were all men.