Three babies dead and over 100 migrants missing in shipwreck off Libya

The bodies of three babies were recovered and around 100 people reported missing after a migrant boat sank off the coast of Libya on Friday.

About 120 migrants were aboard the inflatable dinghy at the time, survivors brought ashore in Al-Hmidiya east of the capital Tripoli told AFP.

Sixteen people were rescued. Libya is the main jumping off point for most migrants trying to reach Europe.

European Union leaders declared victory on Friday regarding a migrant plan, claiming to have set aside their major differences over how best to handle migrant arrivals as they commissioned new plans to screen people in North Africa for eligibility to enter Europe.

But even as they met for a second day in Brussels, the coast guard in Libya announced that 100 people were missing and feared dead in the Mediterranean Sea after their smugglers’ boat capsized.

Bickering over who should take responsibility for the tens of thousands rescued from the Mediterranean has undermined EU unity and threatens the future of cross-border business and travel inside Europe.

At the summit, the EU leaders agreed upon a “new approach” to managing those who are plucked from the water.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point to Europe for those fleeing poverty and civil war elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East. Traffickers have exploited Libya’s chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.

On Friday, Libyan coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim told The Associated Press that 14 migrants were rescued in waters east of the capital, Tripoli.