150 migrants feared dead or missing off Libya coast after shipwreck: UNHCR

GENEVA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Thursday that it estimates some 150 migrants are missing, feared dead after a wooden boat capsized off Libya.

UNHCR spokesman Charlie Laxley told Xinhua that about 150 migrants were feared to have perished in the shipwreck Thursday while another 150 were saved by the Libyan coast guard.

Due to the state of insecurity and chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya became a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants wanting to cross the Mediterranean toward European shores.