Libyan Coast Guard picks up 680 refugees

tripoli - In its own words, the Libyan Coast Guard picked up 680 migrants from the Mediterranean within one day. On Thursday evening two boats with a total of 237 people were taken off the coast in the west of the North African country, the coastguard reported Friday. There were Africans on board, most of them Sudanese.

Previously, more than 440 refugees had been rescued at various locations off the west coast of Libya. Three bodies were also recovered, according to the Coast Guard.

The Libyan Red Crescent said Thursday that twenty bodies were recovered, some of which had been washed up. It is probably part of a larger group of an estimated 220 drowned refugees.

Libya is the main point of departure for migrants from the sub-Saharan region who are trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean. After the fall of Muammar Kaddafi in 2011, the country ended up in a chaos and civil war.

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