Thirty-one migrants, including nine women, drowned off the coast of
Libya during an attempted crossing to Italy according to survivors who
managed to complete the journey, Italian media reported Sunday.
A dinghy carrying 53 migrants capsized on Friday evening, and
witnesses said 31 of those who had been thrown off it drowned in the
accident.
The twenty-two survivors, who come from Nigeria, Gambia, Benin and
Senegal, said the dinghy had capsized after three days at sea. They
were rescued by a passing merchant ship and taken to Lampedusa
island, the reports said.
As the number of boat immigrants attempting the crossing soars in the
good weather, rescuers saved another 450 people trying to reach Italy on
Friday and Saturday, increasing tensions at the already crowded refugee
centre on the island.
Another 92 migrants — including 16 women — were rescued Sunday
morning in the Strait of Sicily after their boat got into difficulty.
Since 1999, more than 200,000 people have arrived on Lampedusa —
which is closer to North Africa than Italy — making it, along with the
Greece-Turkey border, one of the biggest gateways for undocumented
migrants and refugees into the European Union.
In nearby Malta, 112 migrants were saved from their drifting dinghy
overnight Saturday in a 13-hour operation during which eight of those
rescued were airlifted to hospital by helicopter for urgent medical
attention.
That group — which included 20 women and four children — was
suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and sun stroke, a Maltese army
spokesman told AFP.
The latest arrivals bring the number of migrants to land on Malta in July
to 880 — an all-time record for a month — while 1,200 people in total
have landed on the island so far this year. — AFP
Written by Top Blogger
We are Creative Blogger Theme Wavers which provides user friendly, effective and easy to use themes. Each support has free and providing HD support screen casting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment