11 migrants drowned as boat capsized off Libyan coast

11 migrants, two kids and nine women, died today when a small boat carrying migrants to Italy capsized off the shore of Libya, a coastguard official said.

The official, who asked not to be identified, told AFP the victims were among 160 people crammed aboard the boat that went down off Garabulli east of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

With its 1,770 kilometres of coastline, Libya has become a hub for illegal migration towards Europe, lacking proper border controls in a country plunged into chaos.

The coastguard report comes as Italy today coordinated the rescue of more than 5,600 migrants off Libya, three years to the day after 366 people died in a sinking that first alerted the world to the Mediterranean migrant crisis.