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By LibyaHerald reporters.
Benghazi, 27 September 2016:
At least eight bodies, including that of a child have been recovered from Cyrenaican beaches in the last week, with fishermen discovering more corpses floating at sea.
The exact figure of the dead, who are all believed to be migrants, has not yet been given by the Libyan Red Crescent whose workers have been collecting the bodies.
The first five victims were discovered a week ago on a beach at Daryanah up the coast to the east of Benghazi. Three days later the body of a child was found on the shore at Sidi Kalifa, closer to Benghazi. Two female victims were found later in the same area.
There are also reports of more bodies being seen on the coast up from Marj and at Ain Ghazala to the west of Tobruk. Fishermen have also brought to land victims found floating some seven kilometres offshore from Tokra. No details have been released of the total number of dead nor of their likely identities.
A Red Crescent official told this newspaper that he did not think the victims were anything to do with the sinking last week of a migrant boat that had set off from Egypt with 600 migrants aboard, at least 160 of whom drowned when the craft capsized. He said that generally the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition.
People smuggling has been concentrated in the west of the country because the distances to be sailed are smaller and traffickers have flourished amid the general lawlessness. The east of the country poses greater challenges for the gangs. Much of the Jebel Akhdar now has army roadblocks. Around Benghazi and Marj traffic is often delayed by strict checks on vehicles and occupants.
