Two Nigerians dead, two missing as migrant boat capsizes off Libyan coast - IOM

Two Nigerians dead, two missing as migrant boat capsizes off Libyan coast - IOM

By Johnson Arua

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has confirmed that two Nigerians died and two others remain missing after a migrant vessel carrying 49 people capsized in the Central Mediterranean, off the coast of Libya.

According to the UN migration agency, the disaster occurred after a rubber dinghy departed Zuwara, in northwestern Libya, around 3 a.m. on November 3. The boat’s engine reportedly failed six hours later amid high waves, causing it to overturn and throw all passengers overboard.

“The vessel capsized roughly six hours after departure when rough seas caused the engine to fail,” IOM said in a statement. “All 49 passengers — 47 men and two women — were thrown into the water.”

The boat drifted for six days before Libyan authorities rescued seven survivors on November 8 — four from Sudan, two from Nigeria, and one from Cameroon. Forty-two others, including the two missing Nigerians, are presumed dead.

The missing passengers include 29 Sudanese nationals, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon, and two Nigerians, IOM noted.

The agency said its team provided emergency medical treatment, food, and water to the survivors upon disembarkation, working in coordination with Libyan authorities.

This tragedy is the latest in a string of deadly migrant shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean, following recent incidents near Surman, Libya, and Italy’s Lampedusa Island.

IOM’s Missing Migrants Project reports that over 1,000 people have already lost their lives on the Central Mediterranean route in 2025, the world’s deadliest sea crossing for migrants. “With this latest shipwreck, the toll has risen even further, underscoring the urgent need for stronger regional cooperation,” the agency said.

The organisation renewed its call for “expanded safe and regular migration pathways” and more effective search-and-rescue operations to prevent further loss of life. “IOM upholds that humane and orderly migration benefits both people on the move and the societies they join,” the statement added.

Since 2014, more than 25,600 people have died or gone missing on the Central Mediterranean route, which stretches from North Africa to Italy. The perilous journey, often made in overcrowded, unseaworthy inflatable boats, continues to claim thousands of lives each year, worsened by limited rescue capacity, growing smuggling networks, and restrictions on humanitarian operations at sea.