International

Scores of migrants drown after boat capsizes in the Mediterranean

Published

8 years ago

April 19, 2016

Scores of migrants drown after boat capsizes in the Mediterranean

Hundreds of migrants making the dangerous trip from Libya to Europe through the Mediterranean sea drowned when a boat conveying about 500 of them capsized.

About 41 survivors who were rescued from the boat mishap were transferred to another vessel when the boat sank in the middle of the night.

According to the survivors who spoke with the BBC, close to 500 lost their lives but coast guards in the region have been unable to confirm their accounts.

In the last one year, the number of migrants making the dangerous sea route from Libya to Italy have surged drastically.

The southern Greek city of Kalamata, played host to the survivors from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Egypt who were held there after their rescue and according to the group, about 240 migrants left the Libyan port city of Tobruk heading for Italy.

“My wife and my baby drowned in front of me,” is the first thing Muaz from Ethiopia revealed, before insisting that at least 500 others died.

“Two hundred and forty of us set off from Libya but then the traffickers made us get on to a bigger wooden boat around 30m in length that already had at least 300 people in it,” said Abdul Kadir, a Somali.

“I was one of the few who managed to swim back to the smaller boat,” added Muaz.

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