Eleven bodies spotted off Libya's coast by migrant rescue monitoring plane

A monitoring aircraft operated by humanitarian groups spotted 11 decomposing bodies in the sea off Libya's coast on Friday. The NGO SOS Méditerranée described the scene as harrowing, noting that some of the deceased were still clothed while others were kept afloat by inner tubes from tyres. The bodies were said to be in an advanced state of decomposition.

In a statement, the organisation said the sighting serves as a stark reminder of the human consequences of what it called Europe's policies of indifference and deterrence at all costs. Italy's coast guard said it had been alerted and had informed Libyan authorities, as the bodies were located within Libya's search and rescue zone. They were found approximately 57 nautical miles (105 kilometres) from the Libyan coastal city of Zuwarah.

The flight was carried out by SOS Méditerranée together with the Humanitarian Pilots Initiative.

Tens of thousands of migrants attempt the sea crossing from North Africa to southern EU member states every year. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said this week that the number of known migrant deaths in the central Mediterranean has risen sharply even as overall migrant numbers decline, due to stricter European policies.

IOM reported that 821 people died or went missing in the first four months of 2026, a 111 percent increase compared with the same period in 2025. More than half of those fatalities were linked to severe weather in January. Over the same period, arrivals on that route fell by 46 percent to 8,577.

Frontex, the EU border agency, said the total number of irregular border crossings into the European Union dropped by 26 percent in 2025 from the previous year, to almost 178,000.