Some 300 Egyptian fishermen have fled from conflict-torn Libya on Wednesday and remain missing in the Mediterranean Sea a day later due to bad weather conditions, state news agency MENA reported.
The fishermen escaped in 10 boats from the Libyan city of Misrata, where armed clashes have been ongoing between the national Libyan army and Islamist-backed militia alliance Fajr Libya.
Communication was lost between the fishermen and their families, who came out of their homes in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Sheikh to wait for the boats, local fishermen leader Ahmed Nassar told MENA.
Nassar called on authorities to send helicopters to rescue the fishermen, who face risky conditions due to unsteady weather and the high waves.
Two weeks ago, armed men had seized nearly 1,200 Egyptian fishermen in Misrata and the eastern city of Benghazi. The 300 who escaped had managed to contact their families but since weather conditions worsened, no one has heard from them.
For many Egyptian migrant workers, chaotic Libya is a release from the relentless economic hardship and idleness of home, despite an apparent breakdown of law and order in the North African country.
Earlier in January, 13 Coptic Christian Egyptians were kidnapped in Libya's city of Sirte.
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