Boat carrying 200 refugees sinks off Libya coast

At least 76 people have died after a ship carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the coast of Libya, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent said Friday.

"Until now 76 bodies have been retrieved from the sea and 198 people have been rescued" from the boat which sank on Thursday, Mohammad al-Misrati told AFP.

Libya's coastguard initially said that 30 people had died in the disaster near the western port of Zuwara.

The refugees so far accounted for were from the African continent, the official said, adding that rescue efforts were ongoing but would be "intensified" on Friday morning.

"We are working with very limited resources. Most of the boats we use are fishing boats that we borrow from their owners," he said.

An Associated Press photographer said authorities were collecting bodies from the water and loading them into orange bags.

The sinking comes a day after at least 55 bodies were discovered on three overcrowded boats, 52 of found in the hold of one wooden vessel off Libya's coast.

Wednesday's gruesome discovery was made by a Swedish coast guard vessel whose crew plucked hundreds of other migrants from the waters off the North African nation.

People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since the 2011 uprising toppled dictator Muammar Gadaffi to step up their lucrative business.

Many of the refugees are from war-torn Syria and Eritrea.

But the Mediterranean crossing is treacherous, and more than 2,300 people have died trying to reach the European Union this year alone.

In a seperate incident, Austrian police have recovered more than 70 dead refugees found on a lorry abandoned on a motorway in the country, the government said Friday.