Libya: 13 Europe bound migrants dies of suffocation in shipping container

The bodies of 13 migrants, including two teenagers, who died of suffocation in a shipping container bound for Europe have been found in Libya and 56 survivors rescued, aid officials said Thursday. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), citing the Libyan Red Crescent, said on its website that the African migrants had been trapped for “four days” in the metal container. Some of the 56 who survived were “suffering from various injuries and fractures and needed immediate medical attention”.
According to Punch, the migrants were found early Tuesday in the coastal town of Khoms, east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, Mohamad al-Misrati, a Red Crescent spokesman in Libya, told AFP. They were from different African nationalities and included 13 bodies, including those of a girl, 13, and a 14-year-old boy. A Khoms resident, on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the container had been on a truck headed for a beach in Khoms, from where the migrants were expected to board a boat for Europe, when it was stopped and searched at a checkpoint.
On Wednesday, about 750 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast after seven rescue operations mounted by the Italian coast guard and an international aid group. Most of them were also from sub-Saharan Africa. People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since its 2011 revolution that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi to boost their lucrative trade. Most departures take place from the west of Libya, usually heading for Italy 300 kilometres (190 miles) away across the Mediterranean.