TRIPOLI: Scores of Sudanese refugees were dead or missing after two boat disasters off the coast of Libya last weekend, UN agencies said on Wednesday.

One boat capsized on Saturday, according to the UN refugee agency, and a second caught fire on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said -- each off the eastern port city of Tobruk.

The first boat was carrying 74 people, "mostly Sudanese refugees", the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on its X account for Libya, of whom "only 13 people survived and dozens remain missing" from Saturday's wreck.

An IOM spokesperson earlier told AFP that Sunday's "tragic incident took place when a rubber boat carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire" en route to Greece, adding: "At least 50 lives were lost."

The UNHCR and the IOM spokesperson did not immediately provide details of the ages or gender of those on board the boats.

"IOM provided immediate lifesaving medical care to the 24 survivors," the spokesperson added, without clarifying if one last person was still missing from Sunday's wreck.

Libya is a key transit country for thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year.

Perilous Mediterranean crossing

At least 456 people died and 420 were reported missing along the central Mediterranean route between January 1 and September 13, according to the IOM.

Libyan authorities have so far this year intercepted and returned 17,402 migrants to Libya, including 1,516 women and 586 children.

The war in neighboring Sudan has pushed over 140,000 refugees into Libya in the past two years, nearly doubling the number of Sudanese refugees in the country.

Many brave difficult conditions in Libya, migrants have told AFP, while others attempt the dangerous sea crossing in a bid to reach Europe.

One of the deadliest

The IOM considers the central Mediterranean crossing one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world.

In 2024, 2,573 people trying to reach Europe died in the Mediterranean Sea, it said.

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Scores of Sudanese refugees dead or missing in Libya boat wrecks