At least 53 migrants, including two infants, were dead or missing after a rubber boat capsized off the coast of Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.

The vessel, carrying 55 people, overturned on Friday north of the coastal city of Zuwara in northwestern Libya.

Only two survivors, both Nigerian women, were rescued by Libyan authorities.

According to the IOM, one of the women reported losing her husband in the incident, while the other lost her two children.

The boat had departed from the western city of Al-Zawiya late on Feb. 5.

Survivors told the UN migration agency that the vessel began taking on water and capsized approximately six hours into the journey.

IOM teams provided emergency medical assistance to the survivors, the agency said.

The Central Mediterranean remains one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, with the latest incident bringing the number of recorded migrant deaths in 2026 to at least 484.

The IOM warned that smuggling networks continue to exploit migrants by using unsafe and overcrowded vessels.

It called for protection-centered international responses and the expansion of safe and legal migration pathways.

Libya has long served as a key transit point for irregular migrants seeking to reach Europe because of its proximity to the continent and its extensive Mediterranean coastline.

Since the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, years of instability and weak border controls have enabled smuggling networks to operate with relative impunity. (Xinhua/NAN)