Ayob Qassem, Libyan navy spokesman, told Xinhua that a coast guards patrol had rescued 82 illegal immigrants from different African nationalities 48 km off Garrabulli town, some 55 km east of the capital Tripoli.
"The migrants were on a broken rubber boat. They waited for four hours in the water, until the coast guards patrol boat arrived and rescued them in two batches," Qassem said.
The spokesman confirmed that a migrant body who drowned after the boat crashed was recovered.
During the past two days, the Libyan navy has rescued 191 migrants in separate operations, and recovered bodies of 11 who drowned at sea.
Red Crescent emergency team at Zawiya city, some 45 km west of Tripoli, has recovered four unidentified bodies of migrants, and also recovered another migrant body off the coast of Tocra town in eastern Libya.
Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe, due to the state of insecurity and chaos.
Improved weather conditions increase the flows of migrants towards Europe, particularly off the western coast of Libya.
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