Seven hundred people are feared to have drowned when a fishing boat smuggling migrants to Europe capsized off Libya, the UN’s refugee agency said Sunday, in what could be the deadliest Mediterranean migrant disaster yet.
Only 28 people survived the capsize, UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami told the Skytv24 news channel in Italy. The survivors indicated there had been more than 700 on board, she said.
The Maltese navy put the numbers on board at around 650 and said an alert had come in around midnight (2200 GMT) on Saturday.
If confirmed, the tragedy would be by far the biggest in a growing catalogue of mass drownings of migrants attempting to reach the European Union on overcrowded, unseaworthy boats run by people smugglers.
Aid organisations have called for a concerted international effort to put better search-and-rescue systems in place and for action to stem the unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers and migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa seeking to reach Europe.
No comments:
Post a Comment