Tripoli: The bodies of 74 migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe washed up on a beach west of the Libyan capital, the Red Crescent said today.

Residents of the village of Harcha, outside Zawiya, 45 kilometres from Tripoli, alerted the emergency services after finding a wrecked boat on the beach with bodies inside, the Red Crescent said.

More were discovered elsewhere on the beach and still more were feared to be in the water.