The bodies of the drowned migrants are being washed away on the Libyan coast by Reuters

KHUMS, Libya (Reuters) – The bodies of more than a dozen migrants who drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe were washed up off the Libyan coast on Saturday night, the Interior Ministry and its Red Moon reported.

Libya is an important transit point for migrants seeking better opportunities in Europe, many from African countries.

Mohamed Abushaala, head of the Khums Red Moon in the western port of Libya, said 15 bodies, including a child, had been recovered on the shores of Alous on Saturday. He said there were a total of 35 people on board the three survivors, saying it had sunk.

According to him, a separate piece of data released on social media with 17 bodies, along with another 10 found on another beach, was incorrect.

“They were at sea for about a day,” said Osama al-Saket, head of the Khums Hospital, which received the bodies after calls from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and police authorities.

“The bodies were still intact … there were 14 of them, along with a small child,” al-Saket added.

The Interior Ministry later said 14 bodies had been found out of a group of 60 people missing at sea.

It was not clear from the statements whether they all referred to the same group and Interior Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

A larger number of people are trying to cross the Mediterranean this year after declining for several years since 2015. About 1,500 have drowned in 2021, the United Nations IOM migration agency said last week.

The agency’s Missing Migrants Project has named the Central Mediterranean route as the deadliest migration route in the world, with more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances since 2014.

Photographs released by Khums Red Moon showed a body line across a beach while staff put them in bags.