UPDATE - 80 African migrants rescued off Libyan coast

ADDS NUMBER OF MISSING MIGRANTS

By Hamze Tekin, Zeynep Tufekci and Hacer Baser

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Eighty African migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya, a coast guard official said Saturday.

Navy teams rescued the migrants, including 20 women and seven children from a number of countries, according to Libyan navy spokesman Col. Ayoub Qassem, who said the operation took place off the coast of Garabulli, east of Tripoli.

Qassem said about 40 African migrants were missing.

Approximately 1,800 migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of 2017, according to the UN refugee agency.