‘Many bodies’ on Libya migrant boat

Rescuers have saved about 3,000 refugees but found more than 50 dead on boats near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian coastguard.

Tens of thousands of migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, fleeing poverty and war.

“Unfortunately there were around 40 people dead in the hold”, he said.

The United Nations refugee company says greater than 2,400 individuals have died at sea up to now this yr making the crossing.

HMS Bulwark previously rescued approximately 5,000 people from the waters between Libya and Sicily using its landing craft as rescue boats during its 60-day global search and rescue mission.

The rescue operations are ongoing, with around hundred of the illegal migrants having survived. The coast guard said a final figure would be released later Wednesday.

More than 2,300 migrants have died at sea this year during attempts to reach Europe, nearly invariably on overcrowded boats chartered by people smugglers. In total, more than 110,000 individuals have been rescued and brought to Italian ports this year.

Those who make it to shore on the islands are transferred to Athens for registration, which is supposed to happen in the first European Union country they enter.

A boat packed with mainly African migrants bound for Italy sank off the Libyan coast on Thursday and officials said up to 200 might have died.

Hungary, which is in the EU, has already announced stepped-up security measures to prevent migrants entering, including building a temporary barrier along the border with Serbia.

The Hungarian border fence consists of three layers of razor wire along its 174-kilometer (109-mile) border with Serbia.

Every day features new reports of the latest harrowing tragedy engulfing refugees in the Mediterranean.