Up To 40 African Migrants Feared Drowned Off Libyan Coast

As many as 40 African migrants have reportedly drowned off the Libyan coast after their overcrowded inflatable boat capsized and sank.

All of the migrants are believed to have been from Sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal, Mali and Benin, Save the Children spokeswoman Giovanna Di Benedetto told the BBC.

“They said between 35 and 40 people died on Wednesday (22 July) morning”, Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokesperson for southern Europe, said.

The aid group said some of the 80 survivors who were brought ashore Thursday in Augusta, Sicily, reported the deaths that occurred the previous day.

United Nations said about 60,000 people have already tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea from African nations this year and estimated that up to 1,900 migrants have died since January in these crossings.

The coast guards in Italy have rescued 451 migrants off the coast of Libya offshores on Thursday.

A number of people – including women and children – drowned in the chaos that followed.

Eight rescue operations were carried out in the past 24 hours by the Italian coastguard and naval vessels, as well as ships from the German navy, Maltese and Swedish coastguard.

Save the Children warned that with more than 90,000 migrants having arrived in Italy so far this year, facilities are struggling to cope with demand.

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

Each year, tens of thousands seek to escape from poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East by heading for Europe.