Migrant Crisis: 97 missing after boat sinks off Libyan coast

At least 97 migrants went missing after their boat sank yesterday off the Libyan coast, a navy spokesman said.

Survivors said those missing include 15 women and five children, General Ayoub Kacem told AFP.

He said the Libyan coast guard had rescued a further 23 migrants of various African nationalities just under 10 kilometres (6 miles) off the coast of Tripoli.

The boat's hull was completely destroyed and the survivors, all men, were found clinging to a floating device, he said.

Those who had disappeared were "probably dead" but bad weather had so far prevented the recovery of their bodies, Kacem added.

Six years since a revolution that toppled dictator Moamer Gaddafi, Libya has become a key departure point for migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

Hailing mainly from sub-Saharan countries, most of the migrants board boats operated by people traffickers in the country's west, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa 300 kilometres (190 miles) away.