Staff Reporter :At least eight Bangladeshi nationals, including two children, were killed after two boats carrying about 500 migrants sank off Libyan coast. There were about 54 Bangladeshi nationals on the boat those were heading for Italy to change their fate, the Bangladesh embassy in Tunisia confirmed on Friday night.Of the eight dead, the identities of seven have been confirmed. They are Ramzan Ali, 58, Sanwara Khatun, 42, seven-year-old Yusuf, two-year-old Rima Abdul Aziz, eight-month-old Raisa Abdul Azim, Abul Bashar and his daughter.ASM Ashraful Islam, Councillor at Bangladesh embassy in Libya, said, “There were about 400/500 people on the boat. Of them, 54 were Bangladeshis. Forty six of them were rescued while the rest eight were missing after the boat capsized. We fear that they have all died.””We have talked with two survivors, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Azim and they informed us that there were 22 members of four families. Of them, 15 have been rescued and rest are missing. There are several children among the victims, ” he said.The Councillor said, “Apart from the family men, there were 32 Bangladeshi labourers. Of them, one is still missing. We did not get his name yet. We also fear he is dead……..However, most of the victims were rescued alive due to wearing life jackets,” UNB adds: Eight Bangladesh nationals, including two children, were among those died after two boats carrying about 500 migrants sank off Libya.A Bangladesh Embassy team has initially reported that five have died while two gone missing among the Bangladeshis who were on the ill-fated boat, according to a Foreign Ministry media note. On August 27, around 2am a boat (BBC says 2 boats) carrying about 400-500 migrants, including reportedly 43 Bangladeshis, capsized off the Libyan Coastal Town of Zuwara located around 300 km west of Tripoli, while crossing the Mediterranean Sea.The Bangladesh Embassy team, led by Counsellor (labour) Ashraful Islam, is coordinating medical and humanitarian support, said the Foreign Ministry here. The migrants were rescued by the LibyanCoast Guards and extended treatment facilities. The rescued Bangladeshis include four families with children.So far, all the Bangladesh nationals admitted to hospital have been released after first aid, it said.There were 31 Bangladesh nationals in the two boats, BBC Bangla reports quoting chargé d’ affaires of Bangladesh Embassy to Libya, now shifted to Tunisia, Mozammel Haque.The official confirmed the death of five Bangladesh nationals. Some 200 people died in the twin incidents, said the BBC report. Quoting Embassy sources, the report said most of the Bangladesh nationals could be rescued alive as they were wearing lifejackets.Haque said, 31 Bangladesh nationals of four families were reportedly trying to go to Italy through Libya. Earlier, the BBC reported that hundreds of people are feared dead after two boats carrying about 500 migrants sank off Libya.The first boat, which capsized early on Thursday, had nearly 100 people on board. The second, which sank later, was carrying about 400 passengers. Rescuers have, meanwhile, pulled 82 bodies from the water and saved 198 people, according to an official with the Red Crescent.About 100 people are still missing, said the official, Ibrahim al-Attoushi. The boats sank on Thursday after leaving Zuwara, a major launch pad on the Libyan coast for migrants hoping to reach Italy.The UN says about 2,400 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year.More than 100,000 others have landed in Italy, whilst another 160,000 have crossed to Greece.The Libyan coast guard worked overnight on Thursday to search for survivors from the latest tragedy.But Libya is poorly equipped to carry out rescue operations as the ships available to its coastguard are small, BBC North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad reports from Tunis.At least 100 bodies were taken to a hospital in Zuwara, west of Tripoli, a resident told the BBC. The victims included migrants from Syria, Bangladesh and several sub-Saharan African countries, the resident said, but the information could not be independently verified.On Wednesday, the bodies of at least 51 people were found in the hold of a stricken ship off Libya’s coast. They were picked up by a Swedish coastguard ship that also rescued more than 400 survivors – among at least 3,000 migrants saved that day.The Swedish ship, Poseidon, docked in the port of Palermo, Sicily, on Thursday. On Saturday, about 4,400 migrants were rescued from boats off the coast of Libya, in one of the biggest single-day operations mounted to date. Many of those who attempt the journey are fleeing conflict or persecution, and set off from Libya in unseaworthy boats organised by smugglers. Libya has had two competing governments for the past year and is largely ruled by rival militias.Meanwhile, in Austria, police have said the number of people who died in a parked lorry near the Hungarian border is now confirmed as 71. Three people have been arrested. The issue of the influx of migrants into Europe through land routes was raised at a summit in Vienna on Thursday.Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz highlighted the need to deal with the large number of migrants heading to the EU via Western Balkan nations. He stressed the “whole idea of the European Union without borders inside is in danger” if the bloc’s external borders were not secure.
