Shipwreck off Libya's coast claims 34 lives, says Red Crescent

The bodies of a total of 34 migrants have been recovered since their boat sank off Libya's coast five days ago, the Libyan Red Crescent said on Monday.

The latest toll follows the recovery of 11 bodies on Monday, which were "handed over to authorities" in the Mediterranean city of Sabratha, west of Tripoli, the Red Crescent confirmed on Facebook.

A security source told AFP "the number of victims could increase" after the "rubber boat carrying dozens of migrants overturned not far from the coast of Sabratha on Wednesday".

"In this kind of incident, the chances of survival are slim... especially since no call for help was launched," the source added.

Last Wednesday, the Red Crescent reported finding six bodies and a further 17 were recovered Sunday.

Footage posted to Facebook showed Red Crescent volunteers carrying bodies in black bags to ambulances.

Alarm Phone, a hotline used by migrants who run into trouble, said Wednesday it had received a distress call from an inflatable boat that was sinking off Libya's coast and carrying around 100 passengers.

The group claimed on Twitter to have unsuccessfully tried to contact "the so-called Libyan coastguard".

The central Mediterranean route remains the world's deadliest migratory sea crossing.

More than a decade of violence in Libya, following the fall and killing of dictator Muhammad al-Gaddafi in 2011, helped turn the North African country into fertile ground for people-trafficking gangs, who have been accused of abuses ranging from extortion to slavery.

Rights groups have repeatedly accused authorities and armed groups operating under state auspices of torture and other abuses.

Neighbouring Tunisia has also seen an increase in attempted crossings.

Tunisian authorities said Monday five sub-Saharan African migrants had drowned in two separate shipwrecks and that the bodies of 31 sub-Saharan African migrants were discovered in a state of "decomposition" after being washed up by the sea.

Dozens of migrants remain missing off Tunisia's coast after the sinking of multiple boats in recent weeks