BENGHAZI: Libya’s navy said it has rescued 272 migrants whose vessels were stranded in the Mediterranean Sea as they tried to reach southern Europe.

A navy statement late on Sunday said the migrants were on two vessels. The engine of one vessel sank into the sea while the engine of the other broke down.

It said the migrants included 53 women and 57 children. The bodies of two female migrants were found on one of the vessels. It added that the survivors were taken to a port in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

Meanwhile, the UN migration agency has raised the probable death toll to 64 in the weekend sinking of a smugglers’ rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.

The Italian coast guard, hours after the boat started sinking on Saturday due to a puncture, rescued 86 people from it and retrieved the bodies of eight dead women.

Libya has been plagued by lawlessness and militia rule since a 2011 uprising toppled and killed Muammar Qadhafi.