24 Bangladeshis dead 

The death toll of Bangladeshis from Friday's boat capsize near Libya rose to 24, UNB reported quoting a Bangladesh diplomat in Libya on Saturday.

It was reported on Friday that eight Bangladeshis died when two boats carrying around 500 migrants workers, mostly from Africa, sank off the Libyan coast.

“The death toll [of Bangladesh nationals] is so far 24,” counsellor (labour), Bangladesh embassy in Libya, now shifted to Tunisia, Ashraful Islam told the news agency over phone.

He said there were 78 Bangladesh nationals, including children and women, in the two boats. Of them, 54 were rescued alive.

The deaths of Bangladeshis include three children.
Ashraful Islam said Bangladesh has sought support from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to send back the rescued Bangladesh nationals home.

“So far, we’ve got 20 Bangladesh nationals who want to go back to Bangladesh,” he said adding that they have already talked to the IOM about it.

The rest of the people rescued will stay back if their documents are found valid, Ashraful said.

He, however, could not give instantly the details of the victims.
Earlier on Friday, Ashraful Islam told UNB over phone from Libya that the death toll was eight. He, however, confirmed the deaths on the basis of their conversations with victims’ relatives.

Of the rescued Bangladesh nationals, women were kept in the embassy’s custody while the men in Tripoli detention centre, said a BBC report on Saturday.

A Bangladesh embassy team, led by Ashraful Islam, is coordinating medical and humanitarian support, the foreign office said in Dhaka.

The migrants were rescued by the Libyan coast guards and extended treatment facilities.

The first boat, which capsized early on Thursday, had nearly 100 people on board. The second, which sank later, was carrying about 400 passengers.
Rescuers have, meanwhile, pulled 82 bodies from the water and saved 198 people, according to an official with the Red Crescent.