More than 100 bodies recovered after Libya migrant boat sinks

The confirmed number of deaths after a boat packed with migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea has risen to 105 with almost 100 more still missing.

Lacking navy ships, Libyan officials were searching for survivors with fishing boats and inflatables provided by locals.

About 198 people had been rescued by noon, the coast guard said.

Libya officials and residents were putting bodies into red bags on a beach littered with shoes, trousers and other personal items from those who perished.

The vessel sank yesterday after leaving Zuwara, a major launchpad for smugglers taking advantage of lax security in Libya where rival governments are fighting for control four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.

Survivor Ayman Talaal, from Syria said: "The boat was in a bad condition and people died with us."

The number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe has passed 300,000 this year, up from 219,000 in the whole of 2014, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said.

More than 2,500 people have died making the crossing this year, not including those feared drowned off Libya in the last 24 hours, it said.

Italian police have detained 10 people on suspicion of multiple homicide in connection with migrants found dead in the hold of a boat off Libya during a rescue operation on Wednesday.

More than 2,500 people have died this year attempting to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean by boat, according to statistics from the UNHCR.

The UN refugee agency said the figure did not include the 200 who are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya in the past 24 hours.

The number of refugees and migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean by boat over the past two years were:

The bodies of 82 people have been recovered after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast yesterday, according to officials, with 100 people still missing.

According to the humanitarian charity Red Crescent a further 198 migrants were rescued after the boat overturned.