Four illegal immigrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean more than five days after the boat supposed to carry them to Europe capsized off Libya, three Libyan sources and the controversial International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.
However, 10 migrants were confirmed to have died in the incident off Tobruk in eastern Libya, and 31 were still missing. Six bodies were recovered on Saturday after washing ashore.
The IOM said search efforts were continuing. The illegals were from Egypt and Sudan, the security sources said.
Libya is a transit route for illegal immigrants, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing to Europe across desert and sea in the hope of receiving welfare.
Its 100 municipalities now harbour well over 900,000 migrants, according to UN data collected at the end of last year.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Werfali; writing by Ahmed Elumami; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
