Many migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean

A boat packed with up to 700 African migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya on Wednesday (Thursday NZ Time) and many are feared dead, officials and aid agencies said.

The accident happened when the migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing to Italy moved all together towards the same side of the boat to ask for help when they saw a vessel approaching them, Federico Fossi from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told Rai State television.

The Italian coastguard reports that 400 people have been rescued while 25 bodies have been recovered from the water.

“The Irish vessel LE Niamh was present in the area, as part of the EU-sponsored operations dealing with migration at sea”, he said, adding that it approached the migrant boat after picking up a distress signal. They were later joined by three other ships and a helicopter.

Italian and Irish naval vessels were trying to rescue survivors.

It’s understood the boat went down instantly when migrants rushed to one side to be rescued.

According to the worldwide Organization for Migration’s latest data, more than 2,000 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean, the vast majority of whom were seeking to land in Italy.

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s defence minister, confirmed that the Niamh was diverted to the scene at 7am and warned the loss of life is likely to be significant.

Prosecutors in Sicily said smugglers routinely pack unseaworthy boats far past capacity, with hundreds of migrants below deck.

Marini confirmed it was probably the same boat.

Di Giacomo said the estimate of 600 aboard was credible because the boat was 20-25 meters (70-85 feet) long, and smugglers, who don’t like to leave any space unused, usually fit about 600 aboard a fishing boat of that size.

Wednesday’s disaster could be the worst since 800 migrants were feared drowned off Libya in April.

“(The operation) is still going on… this boat… would have been horrendously overcrowded. He was disappointed, he said, that EU ministers had not reached agreement last month on how to distribute some 40,000 mostly Syrian and Eritrean migrants from Italy and Greece.

The IOM said that there is now a decline in the number of migrant deaths as they tried to reach Europe.

“Among them, around 100 were travelling inside the hold of this metal boat”, he also added.

The capsized boat is just the latest incident involving the growing number of migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea going to Europe.