Refugees report hundreds drowning in Mediterranean Sea
A group of rescued migrants in Italy have reported the sinking of a fourth boat carrying 400 people. Media reports had reported the sinking of three boats in recent days.
The migrants told the aid organization Save the Children that a fourth boat left the Libyan port of Sabratha in the late hours of Wednesday (May 25). It was being towed by a larger ship.
According to the refugees, after some time, the ship's captain ordered the rope to be cut, and thus the boat separated from the ship and sank as water entered it.
A Save the Children spokesperson said they had gathered statements from several eyewitnesses, all of whom gave the same account of the incident. “These statements need to be verified first, but if the survivors’ accounts are correct, 400 people drowned,” said Giovanna Di Benedetto.
Record of 4,000 migrants rescued in one day
The United Nations and the Italian coast guard said nearly 14,000 migrants have been rescued in the Mediterranean Sea over the past week. On Friday alone, the Italian coast guard pulled 2,000 people from the water in 17 coordinated operations, a day after 4,000 migrants were rescued.
It is not yet clear how many migrants have drowned in recent days.
The Italian Navy announced that it had pulled 45 bodies from the water around a sunken rubber boat alone.
The Italian Coast Guard conducted 22 separate rescue operations for migrants on Thursday (May 26), which a spokesman for the agency said was probably unprecedented and a record.
With the arrival of summer and favorable weather conditions, the perilous sea journeys to Europe take place between May and October. International organizations estimate that 1,475 migrants have drowned in the hope of a better life in Europe so far in 2016.
Source: wd
