International

202 migrants now dead following shipwreck, Egyptian rescue officials say

Published

8 years ago

September 28, 2016

202 migrants now dead following shipwreck, Egyptian rescue officials say

Egyptian rescue officials have revealed that the death toll arising from the wreck of a boat which drowned hundreds of migrants at the Mediterranean Sea has now reached 202 after 33 more bodies were recovered.

Uncertainty remains over how many might still be missing with rescue officials and fishermen saying they have rescued at least 69 people as Regional governor Mohamed Sultan said the number of bodies recovered was “almost final”.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday it believed at least 450 people were aboard the vessel and that about 300 perished in all.

“It is one of the worst tragedies of this year, but not the worst,” IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a briefing in Geneva.

“We are concerned about what this says for the rest of the season as the weather turns cold and seas get more difficult.”

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