International

Fleeing migrants: 45 dead, 2,000 rescued in shipwreck

Published

8 years ago

May 28, 2016

Fleeing migrants: 45 dead, 2,000 rescued in shipwreck

According to coast guards stationed at the Mediterranean Sea, at least 45 migrants died and 2,000 others were rescued in a shipwreck as the number of migrants trooping into Europe via Italy increased.

Though there are no official estimates of total casualties, but reports say around 14,000 people were taken off often flimsy vessels over the whole week.

Read also: Policeman jailed 7yrs for raising false terror alarm

The United Nations and the coast guard say that about a hundred may have drowned including boat crew members.

Italian Navy ship Vega plucked about 135 people off a “half-submerged” large rubber boat in one of 17 operations coordinated by the coast guard on Friday.

The Vega recovered 45 bodies and is still searching for the missing, the navy said, marking the third straight day of reports of migrant deaths at sea.

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