A Libyan medical center announced on Saturday that at least 61 bodies of migrants were recovered over the past two weeks along the coast west of the capital Tripoli.

The Emergency Medicine and Support Center affiliated with the Ministry of Health stated that the bodies were recovered in the area extending from Zuwara to Ras Ajdir near the border with Tunisia, according to Reuters.

It also mentioned in a statement that “during the past week, the coast from Zuwara to Ras Ajdir was surveyed, and remains of three bodies were found in Mellitah and 12 bodies in Zuwara, all of them irregular migrants.”

It added that another group of 34 bodies was found in Zuwara, Abu Kamash, and Mellitah.

The center pointed out that 12 bodies were buried, but clarified that some other bodies were transferred to the morgue for autopsy and documentation.

Boat Fire Incident

It is worth mentioning that in mid-September, the International Organization for Migration revealed that at least 50 people died after a fire broke out on a boat carrying 75 Sudanese refugees off the coast of Libya.

The organization’s data also indicate that a total of 894,890 migrants holding 45 nationalities reside in Libya.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea.