Two Libyan boat disasters leave Sudanese migrants dead or missing

Nearly 100 Sudanese migrants have died or gone missing after two separate boat disasters off Libya's coast over the weekend, international agencies said Wednesday, underscoring the growing toll on people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. One vessel capsized on Saturday off the eastern Libyan town of Tobruk and a second caught fire on Sunday as it headed out from the Libyan coast, agencies said.

The United Nations refugee agency said the Saturday incident involved a boat carrying 74 people, mostly Sudanese, of which only 13 survived. Dozens remain unaccounted for, UNHCR said in a social media post, adding that the agency was deeply saddened and offering condolences to victims' families. The International Organization for Migration said the Sunday blaze involved a separate boat carrying roughly 75 people and reported at least 50 deaths, with 24 survivors receiving medical support. UNHCR published a higher toll for the fire, saying at least 61 people died. Officials cautioned that casualty numbers were still being clarified as rescue and recovery efforts continued.

The two tragedies follow a pattern of deadly incidents in the central Mediterranean, one of...