Dozens of African migrants feared drowned off Libya

She said the migrants came from countries such as Senegal, Mali, Benin and Nigeria.

The migrants fell into the water and most were rescued by a commercial boat and then by the German navy ship, the Holstein, which brought a total of 283 people to safety.

“They said between 35 and 40 people died on Wednesday morning“, Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokeswoman for southern Europe, said on Thursday.

One migrant said the boat they were travelling in started to disintegrate shortly after it set sail from the area.

The survivors were rescued in open water by a German navy vessel and brought to the port of Augusta, Sicily. In the end two boats were found, one carrying 38 people from Africa and the other with 20 people from Syria all making the risky trek across the Mediterranean into Europe.

Rome – Up to 40 migrants who were seeking to reach Europe are feared dead after their inflatable dinghy sank off the coast of Libya, according to survivors interviewed by the UN refugee agency on Thursday.

However, numerous boats are not seaworthy and the United Nations estimates that some 1,900 would-be migrants have died since January trying to make the crossing.

So far this year, more than 80,000 migrants have come ashore in Italy, with a similar number arriving in Greece.

Most them are fleeing war, conflict and poverty from many parts of Africa and the Middle East.

EU foreign ministers last month approved the launch of a military operation against people smugglers in the Mediterranean, with ships and aircraft conducting intelligence gathering missions.

The rapid increase in the flow of migrants comes after 170,000 migrants arrived into Europe in 2014.