The incident adds to what humanitarian agencies describe as a worsening pattern of deadly journeys along one of the world’s most perilous migration routes.

According to an on-the-record statement from the Geneva-based agency, the vessel departed the coastal city of Zawiya late on 5 February and overturned roughly six hours later after taking on water. The two survivors—both Nigerian women—told IOM staff they lost immediate family members in the disaster, including one woman’s husband and the other’s two infants. IOM medical teams provided emergency care upon their disembarkation.

The IOM Missing Migrants Project reports that trafficking networks continue to exploit migrants from across sub-Saharan Africa, charging high fees for passage aboard unsafe boats while subjecting them to "severe abuses.” The agency renewed its call for expanded lawful migration pathways and stronger international coordination to dismantle smuggling routes.

The Mediterranean remains the world’s deadliest migration corridor. IOM fears that hundreds may have died already this year amid harsh winter conditions. Between 2014 and late 2025, more than 33,000 people died or went missing along Mediterranean routes. Last year alone, the agency recorded 1,873 fatalities or disappearances, including 1,342 on the central route between North Africa and southern Europe.