The wreck, one of the most dangerous shipwrecks this year on the so-called migration route in the central Mediterranean, fell on Wednesday off the coast of the city of Zuwara, according to a report of 15 survivors rescued by a fishing boat.
The sunken boat was one of three beaches that left the beaches between Zuwara and Zawiya on Tuesday night, a base for various Libyan gangs, linked to others in the region, that benefit from smuggling weapons, fuel and people.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees revealed, on Wednesday, that the Libyan patrol boats intercepted a total of 307 people who tried to reach Italy on board ill-equipped ships and return to Tripoli.
The UNHCR explained in a statement that the migrants, including 22 women and 11 children, landed in the port of Tripoli, where the International Red Cross and the UNHCR itself provided first aid.
Tens of thousands of people try to reach Europe, across the Mediterranean from Libya or Tunisia, usually to reach Italy.
This journey is extremely dangerous, with at least 1,236 people dying this year in transit, compared to 858 in the same period in 2020, according to the International Organization for Migration.
More than 59,000 asylum seekers have arrived on the Italian coast this year, a 50% increase on last year, but that is a far cry from the numbers of those who risked their lives on fragile smuggler boats between 2014 and 2017.
