At least 34 migrants, most of them toddlers, drowned on Wednesday, as coastguard boats and other vessels tried to save hundreds of others packed into boats off the coast of Libya, rescuers said
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At least 34 migrants, most of them toddlers, drowned on Wednesday, as coastguard boats and other vessels tried to save hundreds of others packed into boats off the coast of Libya, rescuers said.
One of a group of boats listed suddenly, sending about 200 people tumbling into the Mediterranean, Italian Coast Guard commander Cosimo Nicastro told Reuters. "At least 20 dead bodies were spotted in the water," he said. Rescue group MOAS said it had already recovered 34 bodies. "Most are toddlers," the group's co-founder Chris Catrambone said on Twitter.
The coast guard called in more ships to help with the rescue, saying about 1,700 people were packed into about 15 vessels. More than 1,300 people have died this year on the world's most dangerous crossing for migrants fleeing poverty and war across Africa and the Middle East.
In the past week, more than 7,000 migrants have been plucked from unsafe boats in international waters off the western coast of Libya, where people smugglers operate with impunity. More than 50,000 migrants have been rescued at sea and brought to Italy so far, a 46 percent increase on the same period of last year, the Interior Ministry said this week.
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