Thirty-one boat migrants drowned off Libya, survivors say

Thirty-one boat migrants drowned off Libya, survivors say

ROME:  Thirty-one migrants, including nine women, drowned off the coast of Libya  during an attempted crossing to Italy  according to survivors who managed to  complete the journey, Italian media reported Sunday.

A dinghy carrying 53 migrants capsized on Friday evening, and witnesses said  31 of those who had been thrown off it drowned in the accident.

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Somali would-be immigrants help an ill colleague disembark from an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) patrol boat at the AFM Maritime Squadron base at Haywharf in Valletta’s Marsamxett Harbour late July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

The twenty-two survivors, who come from Nigeria, Gambia, Benin  and Senegal, said the dinghy had capsized  after three days at sea. They were rescued by a passing merchant ship and taken  to Lampedusa island, the reports said.

As the number of boat immigrants attempting the crossing soars in the good  weather, rescuers saved another 450 people trying to reach Italy on Friday and  Saturday, increasing tensions at the already crowded refugee centre on the  island.

Another 92 migrants — including 16 women — were rescued Sunday morning in  the Strait of Sicily after their boat got into difficulty.

Since 1999, more than 200,000 people have arrived on Lampedusa — which is  closer to North Africa  than Italy — making it, along with  the Greece-Turkey  border, one of the biggest gateways for  undocumented migrants and refugees into the European Union.

In nearby Malta, 112 migrants were saved from their drifting dinghy overnight  Saturday in a 13-hour operation during which eight of those rescued were  airlifted to hospital by helicopter for urgent medical attention.

That group — which included 20 women and four children — was suffering from  exhaustion, dehydration and sun stroke, a Maltese army spokesman told AFP.

The latest arrivals bring the number of migrants to land on Malta  in July to 880 — an all-time record for a  month — while 1,200 people in total have landed on the island so far this  year.

Source: AFP

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