TRIPOLI: Around 100 Sudanese refugees are dead or missing after two separate boat disasters off Libya’s coast last weekend, and the toll is feared to rise, UN agencies said Wednesday.

One boat capsized on Saturday and another caught fire on Sunday, both off the eastern port city of Tobruk, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The first boat was carrying 74 people, “mostly Sudanese refugees”, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on its X account for Libya, of whom “only 13 people survived and dozens remain missing” from Saturday’s wreck.

An IOM spokesperson earlier told AFP that Sunday’s “tragic incident took place when a rubber boat carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire” en route to Greece, adding: “At least 50 lives were lost.”

The UNHCR and the IOM spokesperson did not immediately provide details of the ages or gender of those on board the boats.

“IOM provided immediate lifesaving medical care to the 24 survivors,” the spokesperson added, without clarifying if one last person was still missing from Sunday’s wreck.

Libya is a key transit country for thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year.

At least 456 people died and 420 were reported missing along the central Mediterranean route between January 1 and September 13, according to the IOM.

Libyan authorities have so far this year intercepted and returned 17,402 migrants to Libya, including 1,516 women and 586 children.

The war in neighbouring Sudan between the army and paramilitaries has pushed over 140,000 refugees into Libya in the past two years, nearly doubling the number of Sudanese refugees in the country.

Many brave near-slavery conditions in Libya, migrants have told AFP, while others attempt the dangerous sea crossing in a bid to reach Europe.

The IOM considers the central Mediterranean crossing one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world.

In 2024, 2,573 people trying to reach Europe died in the Mediterranean Sea, it said.

Libya is still plagued by division and instability after years of unrest following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

It remains divided between the UN-recognised government in the west and its eastern rival, backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Smugglers and human traffickers have taken advantage of the instability, leading to human rights violations, including extortion and slavery, according to rights groups.

Devil Wears Prada 2‘s new face, Lucy Liu, has teased some exciting glimpses from the set of the forthcoming film.

Joining the star-studded cast for the upcoming sequel to 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, the actress gave a vibe-check of the set and how it feels to be a new face, via People.

The original cast members included Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt.

She revealed that filming in the fashion-film which audiences have been anticipating for years was filled with “fun.”

“I had a great time and it was really fun,” Liu told the outlet at the Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program luncheon in New York City on September 16.

She went on to say, “It’s always nice to be part of something that people are excited about and that is connected to fashion.”

“Fashion can be so many things — it can be political, and it can be whimsical. That, to me, is what’s fun about a movie like that, that’s more classic than you would think,” Liu added.

For the unversed, the shooting of the much-anticipated sequel began back in June and several clips from the set got viral on social media.

Other new faces that joined The Devil Wears Prada 2’s cast including Liu are Pauline Chalamet, Justin Theroux, Kenneth Branagh, B.J. Novak, Patrick Brammall, Caleb Hearon and Broadway stars Conrad Ricamora. and Helen J. Shen.

The sequel is set to release in theaters on May 1, 2026.