Tuesday 9 May 2017

Nearly 250 refugees feared dead after two migrant boats sink in Mediterranean

A baby was among the bodies washed up on beaches in Libya following the latest disasters, which push the record death toll above 1,300 so far in 2017.

The country’s coastguard picked up seven migrants who said they had been on an overloaded dinghy packed with 170 people, which sank on Sunday.

Omar Koko, a coastguard commander in the western city of Zawiya, said more than 30 women and nine children were among those feared drowned.

At least 11 bodies washed up on nearby beaches and were recovered by the Red Crescent.

Spokesperson Mohanad Krima said: “All the bodies are of female victims and there is a girl of less than one year old.”

Survivors of a second shipwreck where rescued by the Italian coastguard, telling authorities their boat started deflating under the weight of 120 people.

Based on its interviews with survivors in Sicily, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated the number of dead at more than 80.

Migrant arrivals to Italy by sea are up about 30 per cent this year on 2016, when a record 181,000 people were rescued and taken ashore.

”The increasing numbers of passengers on board vessels used by traffickers, with an average of 100 to 150 people, are alarming and the main cause of shipwrecks,“ said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.


”Risks are increased by the worsening quality of vessels and the increasing use of rubber boats instead of wooden ones.”

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