TRIPOLI, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Libyan navy on Friday questioned the validity of reports about a capsizing boat carrying 90 illegal immigrants off the coast of the city of Zuwara, some 120 km west of Tripoli, according to navy spokesman Ayob Qassem.
"The reports published by international organizations about a capsizing boat with 90 illegal immigrants on board off the city of Zuwara are uncertain and questionable because they are not based on accurate evidence or sources," Qassem told Xinhua.
Earlier in the day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that nearly 90 immigrants were feared drowned off the coast of Zuwara, and three immigrants survived and made it to the shore.
It is reported that 10 bodies, two Libyans and eight Pakistani nationals, have washed up on Libyan shores, IOM said.
"If the organization that announced this report does not provide proof of its authenticity, we will charge them with collusion with the smuggling networks and publishing false and misleading information that attempts to show Libya inhumanely to the international community," Qassem said.
The spokesman said two Coast Guard patrols were sent to search the coast, the first from Tripoli at 5 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), and the second three hours and a half later.
"The search was carried out on the entire coast of Zuwara, and no bodies of wreckage were found," Qassem noted.
Ibrahim Mohammed, an official of Libyan Red Crescent in Zuwara, also denied a boat crash off the city's coast on Friday, saying the bodies washed ashore belong to immigrants on a boat that capsized two days ago.
"The Security Directorate of Zuwara has been recovering immigrants bodies since Wednesday evening, and the total number of the recovered bodies so far is 13, including a Libyan woman," Mohammed told Xinhua.
"We contacted the Coast Guard and the Security Directorate, and they estimate that the boat, which sank two days ago, could have carried only 40 immigrants," he added.
Following the 2011 uprising in Libya, the insecurity and chaos in the country has made it a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores.
