International News

ROME, (APP/AFP): At least seven migrants have drowned
off the Libyan coast after the heavily overcrowded boat they were
sailing on overturned, the Italian navy said Wednesday.
The navy said 500 people had been pulled to safety and seven bodies
recovered, but rescue operations were continuing and the death toll
could rise.
The navy’s Bettica patrol boat spotted “a boat in precarious
conditions off the coast of Libya with numerous migrants aboard,” it
said in a statement.
“Shortly afterwards the boat overturned due to overcrowding. The
Bettica, which had arrived nearby, threw life-rafts and jackets” to the migrants in the water, while another navy ship in the area sent a
helicopter and rescue boats.
The latest arrivals bring the number of people rescued and brought
to Italy since the start of the year to nearly 40,000, according to data released by the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) earlier this week.
Some 5,600 people were rescued from the Mediterranean on Monday and
Tuesday alone.
The nationalities of those rescued were not immediately available.
The overwhelming majority of those arriving in Italy so far this year
have been from sub-Saharan Africa.
Officials say there is no sign yet of Middle Eastern refugees switching
to the Libyan route to Europe following moves to restrict access from Turkey via the Greek islands.