More than 700 migrants are feared dead in three Mediterranean Sea
shipwrecks off southern Italy in the last few days as they tried to
reach Europe in unseaworthy boats, according to the UN refugee agency.
Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for UNHCR, said on Sunday that an
estimated 100 people were missing from a smugglers’ boat that capsized
on Wednesday. The Italian navy took horrific pictures of that capsizing as it attempted to rescue survivors.
She said about 550 others were missing from a smuggling boat that
capsized on Thursday morning after leaving the western Libyan port of
Sabratha a day earlier.
She said refugees said that boat, which was carrying about 670
people, did not have an engine and was being towed by another packed
smuggling boat before it capsized. About 25 people from the capsized
boat managed to reach the first boat while 79 others were rescued by
international patrol boats and 15 bodies were recovered.
In a third shipwreck on Friday, Sami said 135 people were rescued, 45
bodies recovered and an unknown number of people – many more, the
migrants say – were missing.
Survivors were being taken to the Italian ports of Taranto and
Pozzallo. Sami said the UN agency was trying to gather further
information.
Italy’s southern islands are the main destinations for countless
numbers of smuggling boats launched from Libya each week packed with
people seeking jobs and safety in Europe. Hundreds of migrants drown
each year attempting the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing.
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