Cairo, Jun 29 (AP) A flimsy rubber boat collapsed and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya's coast, leaving at least 30 people including women and children missing and feared dead, an international charity said on Wednesday. The vessel sank in the deadly central Mediterranean Sea route, said Doctors Without Borders, also known by its abbreviation MSF for the French name of the group. A rescue ship operated by MSF reached the boat, and managed to rescue dozens of other migrants including some women, the charity said. Rights groups and UN agencies have for years documented systematic abuse of migrants in Libya including forced labour, beatings, rapes and torture. The abuse often accompanies efforts to extort money from families before migrants are allowed to leave Libya on traffickers' boats.

Source: Libya Today June 29, 2022 19:04 UTC