Sharks attack migrants headed to Europe

Libya's navy rescued 200 migrants and reported at least 31 dead after a boat was attacked by sharks on a dangerous journey from Africa to Italy.

The Daily Mail has reported that the dead included 18 women and three children- and 40 individuals still remain missing. Members of the Libyan coastguard saw several large blue sharks swimming around the boat.

"When we arrived in the area, off the town of Garabulli, [one] dinghy was semi-submerged and still had 44 people clinging on to it, whom we saved," Libyan patrol boat commander Nasser al-Ghammoudi told an Italian newspaper.

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"There were lots of bodies all around and we saw there were four or five sharks swimming among them, large blue sharks, a very aggressive species," he added. "When we brought the bodies on board we noticed that some of them had been bitten, so it's possible that among the missing some may have been eaten."

According to the Libyan navy, the coastguard conducted rescue operations off the city of Garabulli, east of Tripoli. Rescued migrants were provided water, food and medical care at a naval base in Tripoli.

A spokesman, Colonel Abu Ajila Abdelbarri stated that two operations had been conducted, with 31 bodies and 60 survivors in one boat and 140 unharmed migrants in a second boat. He said,  ‘When we arrived at the spot, we found an inflatable dinghy with several people clinging to part of it.’

Migrants from Somalia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Nigeria and four from Pakistan were among those rescued. According to al-Ghammoudi, one vessel was almost completely submerged when the coastguard reached the scene. He added: ‘We looked for other survivors for more than five hours. We were able to rescue one woman after we heard her shouts.’

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Favourable weather conditions has lead to an uptick in attempted sea crossings from Libya to Europe recently. Hours after the boat being attacked by sharks was rescued, more than 400 people were found on a wooden boat off the Libyan coast. Italy's coastguard, in charge of rescue operations in international waters, reported that 1,500 migrants were rescued on Thursday and Friday.

These large numbers follow a significant decrease in the number of sea crossings to Europe since mid-July. The drop has been identified as being due to a combination of bolstering the Libyan coast guard with the help of Italy and convincing influential militias to stop human trafficking. Migrants are also repatriated back to their home countries directly from Libya and security by the country's southern border has been tightened.