adminMore than 240 people have died in boat in the Mediterranean Sea this week, according to officials, as horrifying new testimony emerged from survivors of yet another tragedy off the coast of Libya.
Departures from Libya are continuing unabated despite worsening weather in the Mediterranean, with over 3 200 people rescued from crowded and unseaworthy dinghies since Saturday. The total is the same as for the whole month of November 2015.
The new death toll was based on information gathered by the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) from 15 survivors, who said some 135 people had drowned or lost when a dinghy capsized on Monday.
Some 95 others are presumed dead after another boat sank on Tuesday.
Nine bodies have been recovered in total after both incidents, while a 10th person was seen to have drowned but could not be pulled from the sea by rescue teams.
The survivors of Monday’s shipwreck off Libya — overwhelmingly from sub-Saharan Africa — arrived on Wednesday in the port of Catania in Sicily, where they spoke of their ordeal.
They had set off from Libya on Sunday night with about 150 people on board, “so there would be about 135 missing”, UNHCR spokesman Iosta Ibba said.
“Their dinghy, which was already in a poor state, began taking on water several hours after they set off. It then overturned, tipping all 150 into the sea. Only 15 managed to survive by clinging to a part of the vessel which floated,” he said. — AP
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