90 migrants dead after boat disintegrates in Mediterranean

At least 90 migrants perishedwhen therickety boat they were travelling in started to fall apart in the Mediterranean Sea, after leaving the Libyan coast, the Libyan navy said Thursday.

The rubber boattore and began filling with water about 42 kilometres off the Libyan coast, an area considered to be international waters, said navy spokesman,Ayoub Gassim.

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The Libyan coast guard rescued 29 people. Survivorsclaimedthere had been 129 of them in the boat, mostly African nationals, Gassim said.

The migrants left Tajoura, in western Libya, before dawn on Wednesday morning, and the coast guard received a call for help around 3 p.m.

So far this year, the death toll for migrants in the Mediterranean has reached at least 3,800, making 2016 the deadliest year ever for migrants at sea. People fleeing war and poverty increasingly take the dangerous journey from Libya to Italy on overcrowded boats, hoping to make their way to new lives in Europe.

In a separate incident, Doctors Without Borders said on Wednesday that its personnel recovered the bodies of 25 migrants aboard an overcrowded inflatable raft in the Mediterranean.

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The bodies were discovered during the rescue of 246 people on two rafts, said the group.

Field co-ordinator Michele Telaro said the victims likely died of fuel inhalation, andthe potent mixture of petrol and water hampered recovery efforts during the operation, which took place on Tuesday. Twenty-three survivors were treated for chemical burns.