GENEVA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 90 migrants are reported to have drowned when a boat capsized off the coast of Libya Friday morning, the United Nations migrant agency IOM cited its Libya representative as saying Friday.
Olivia Headon, IOM's representative in Libya, said that 10 bodies are reported to have been washed up on Libyan shores, including two Libyans and eight Pakistani nationals.
Two survivors are reported to have swam to shore, while another was rescued by a fishing boat, Headon said.
IOM said it is working to get more details of the tragedy and to see how best to assist the survivors.
The tragedy comes as IOM reports that 6,624 migrants and refugees had entered Europe by sea through Jan. 28, compared with 5,983 coming ashore during a similar period in 2017.
Earlier on Thursday IOM Rome also reported that a shipwreck occurred last weekend might have killed 35 to 40 people trying to leave Libya to Europe.
These casualties bring to 246 the total number of fatalities on the Mediterranean Sea through the first month of 2018, compared with 254 at the same period last year.
The IOM's Missing Migrants Project has recorded more than 3,000 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean each year since 2014.
Worldwide, IOM said its Missing Migrants Project has recorded the deaths or disappearances of 396 people during migration through Jan. 31 this year, compared with 545 the same period of last year.
