Migrants Feared Drowned After Boat Capsizes Off Libyan Coast - East Idaho News
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Migrants Feared Drowned After Boat Capsizes Off Libyan Coast

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GETTY 91514 OpenWater?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1410806954420iStock/Thinkstock(ROME) — A small fishing boat crammed with migrants — many women and children — capsized off the coast of Libya Monday, with more than 200 feared drowned.

With Libya in chaos, the country’s navy is almost non-existent, so the rescue attempt was carried out by borrowed fishing boats and tug boats from the oil industry.

The incident comes just days after another migrant boat sank near Malta, with survivors saying as many as 500 drowned when traffickers purposely sank the ship.

United Nations spokesperson Carlotta Sami said since the start of the year, 2,500 people — fleeing violence in Syria and beyond — have died or gone missing attempting the perilous crossing.

“They are terrified by the violence that is spreading across country and see the only way to survive is to leave Libya by crossing the sea. They know that they are risking their life because they heard the stories of people that died,” Sami said.

Since January, the Italian naval operation, the largest in the Mediterranean, has rescued upwards of 100,000 people crossing on the rickety boats to Italy.


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