The boat had run into difficulty some 15 nautical miles off Libya and sent out a distress call, picked up by the coastguard in Catania in Sicily.
Two vessels -- the MSF ship Dignity One and Irish patrol vessel Le Niamh -- were immediately dispatched to the scene, but the boat capsized after the migrants all rushed to one side in anticipation of being rescued, the coast guard said.
Nawal Soufi, an Arabic-speaking Italian based in Sicily who is often contacted by migrants in distress, told AFP she had had a call earlier on Wednesday about a boat in trouble with some 600 people on board.
"It is probably the same boat," coastguard spokesman Filippo Marini said, raising fears that hundreds of people may have disappeared below the waves.
Three other ships have been sent to the area to search for survivors.
More than 2,000 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
AFP
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
5/8/15
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Rescue hopes fade for migrants after boat capsizes in Mediterranean...
ReplyDeleteSearch teams in the Mediterranean say they don't expect to find any more survivors from a boat carrying around 600 migrants which sank off Libya.
Officials initially feared hundreds had drowned but the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said 400 people were rescued.
The Italian coast guard said 25 bodies have been recovered so far but it is unclear how many people are missing...................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33791920
6/8/15
Five men detained after presumed drowning of more than 200 migrants...
ReplyDeleteFive North African men have been detained in Italy on suspicion of multiple homicide and human trafficking in the presumed drowning of more than 200 people after a boat sank off the coast of Libya on Wednesday.
Italian police say the men – two Libyans, two Algerians and a Tunisian, used clubs and knives against migrants.
Most of the dead were locked in the hold of a boat, with police saying many children are believed to be among those who perished.
The men, ranging in age from 21 to 24, were placed under formal arrest in Palermo after being questioned yesterday.
Police said the accused men charged the migrants between $1,200 and $1,800 for the voyage, depending on where they would be placed on the deck of the boat.
Those in the hold paid about half as much as those above, they added.
The boat was carrying some 650 people.
The LÉ Niamh, along with Italian ships, rescued more than 400 migrants and recovered 26 bodies, including three children.................http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0807/719787-migrants/
7/8/15