The United Nations said Wednesday that 42 migrants were missing presumed dead after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast last week.

It was the latest in a series of similar disasters in a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea that has claimed the lives of more than a thousand people so far this year.

Only seven survivors were rescued after six days adrift, said a statement from the UN's International Organization for Migration.

The vessel, carrying 47 men and two women, left Zuwara, west of Tripoli, on November 3, but around six hours later, high waves caused the engine to fail, said the IOM.

The boat capsized, throwing all passengers overboard, the statement added.

On Saturday, the Libyan authorities carried out a search and rescue operation near Al Buri oil field.

"After drifting

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