TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan coastguards intercepted about 850 migrants on Sunday off the coast near the western city of Sabratha, a spokesman said.
Ayoub Qassem said the migrants were from various African countries and among them were 79 women, including 11 who were pregnant, as well as 11 children. They were traveling in inflatable rubber boats, he said.
Libya is a major departure point for mainly sub-Saharan African migrants trying to reach Europe through crossings arranged by people smugglers. Migrants are often given flimsy boats that are ill-equipped for traveling across the Mediterranean.
The flow of migrants has increased amid the turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising against long-time Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
More than 30,000 have already crossed on the central Mediterranean route to Italy this year, and more are expected to attempt the journey in calmer weather during the summer.
The International Organization for Migration has identified 235,000 migrants in Libya, but says the real number is likely to be much higher, between 700,000 and one million.
Some of these stay in Libya to work before either returning home or trying to continue on toward Europe.
(This version of the story corrects the number from spokesman for number of women to 79 instead of 69 in paragraph two.)
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
In what might be the only good news to come out of the massive explosion at a Chinese port late Wednesday, a lone firefighter was found alive after 32 hours of being classified as “missing” by Chinese authorities.
The 19-year-old firefighter, Zhou Ti, was quickly rushed to a local hospital where it was reported he has significant injuries to his face, chest and feet. Fire officials said that they are continuing to search for other missing fire personnel.
“Forces from all sides are searching for the (remaining) missing firefighters,” Tianjin Fire Department head Zhou Tian said at a news conference Friday, according to The Associated Press.
Chinese government officials confirmed that 56 people have died because of the explosion including 21 firefighters. Over 700 remain hospitalized because of blast related injuries.
Western officials are now asking if the firefighters contributed to the intensity of the explosions because many of the chemicals reportedly stored at the site react with water to form explosive compounds.
David Leggett, a chemical safety expert, told Reuters that calcium carbide reacts with water to form acetylene, a highly explosive gas. That could have ignited ammonium nitrate that was stored at the facility. (By comparison, ammonium nitrate and acetylene were used by terrorist Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing.)
“In my mind, the presence of ammonium nitrate makes it easier to explain the level of devastation,” he told the news agency.
Another major victory by the Nigerian army in their battle against the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.
Military officials on Thursday announced the rescue of another 100 women and 50 girls from a campsite in the remote Sambisa Forest where the terrorists have been maintaining a stronghold.
The army said that the terrorists were using brainwashed women as soldiers and as human shields in their fight with troops. Col. Sani Usman said that one soldier and one woman died during shootouts with nine terrorist encampments in the Sambisa Forest.
The rescued women and children are in a safety zone for medical attention and processing according to Usman. He said many of the women were “severely traumatized.”
The raid also resulted in the deaths of several Boko Haram field commanders. The troops captured combat tanks and high caliber munitions that were taken to military installations or destroyed in the camps.
Amnesty International stated in April that at least 2,000 women and girls have been taken captive by the terrorists since the beginning of 2014.
A group of monks, watching the Islamic terrorist group ISIS advancing on their monastery, acted quickly to save an ancient Christian library.
The monks collected all the works, including handwritten books of Christian manuscripts, and rushed them into nearby areas that were firmly under the control of Kurdish militia.
The manuscripts are being held in an apartment with no indication of the historical treasure inside its walls. Christians who have fled the terrorists are standing guard over the documents.
The Associated Press viewed the library and reported copies of Bibles and Bible commentaries, most of them written in a form of the ancient Aramaic. The oldest item in the collection is a copy of letters from the Apostle Paul that date back 1,100 years.
ISIS has been systematically destroying historical locations and documents of religions as part of their campaign to “cleanse” the region.
The terrorists were eventually stopped before they could reach the monastery and the road to the site is now protected by Kurdish forces.
“Thank God they were unable to reach the monastery,” said Raad Abdul-Ahed, a local Christian who helped transport the library. But “we will keep it here until the crisis is over, until the situation is stabilized.” Abdul-Ahed, who fled his hometown near Mosul, now lives in the apartment with the manuscripts.
