An estimated 90 migrants are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya after a smuggler’s boat capsized early on Friday, leaving three known survivors and 10 bodies washed up on shore, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. Survivors told aid workers that most of the migrants on board were Pakistanis, who make up a growing number of those attempting the hazardous voyage across the Mediterranean to Italy from North Africa, IOM spokeswoman Olivia Headon said. “They have given an estimate of 90 people who drowned during the capsize, but we still need to verify the exact number of people who lost their lives during the tragedy,” Headon, speaking from Tunis, told a Geneva news briefing. “What has been reported to us is that it’s mostly Pakistanis who were on board the boat, but we still need to verify the nationalities and how many from what country,” she said. Ten bodies have washed up on Libyan shores so far, two of them Libyans and the rest Pakistanis, she said. “I believe the Libyan coastguard is looking for other survivors off the coast,” Headon added. Another IOM spokesman, Leonard Doyle, told Reuters Television that the boat was believed to have left shore on Thursday before capsizing early on Friday morning. Lure of “El Dorado” The tragedy demonstrates the continued allure of Europe for desperate migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty, Doyle said, despite tighter surveillance of the main smuggling routes by the Libyan coastguard, backed up by European cash and… [Read full story]
Seventeen Haitian suspected illegal migrants died Wednesday when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos islands near the Caribbean, authorities said. MIAMI: Seventeen Haitian suspected illegal migrants died Wednesday when their boat capsized off the Turks and Caicos islands near the Caribbean, authorities said. The incident occurred in the early hours of Christmas Day as the boat, which had been intercepted by police, was "being towed into dock" at Providenciales, the government of the British territory said in a statement. The toll was one fewer than first reported and 33 people were rescued and taken to an immigration detention…... [read more]
(VOVworld)- The bodies of 162 people had been pulled from the waters off the Egyptian coast by Friday, two days after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized in the Mediterranean while attempting to head to Europe. Egyptian coast guard and rescue workers bring ashore bodies recovered from a Europe-bound boat that capsized off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, in Rosetta, Egypt- (AP Photo/Eman Helal) Dozens more are feared dead, said Mohammed Sultan, the governor of Beheira, who provided The Associated Press with the latest figures. He also said that the search operation is still ongoing. Many of them are believed to…... [read more]
At least 10 people died and about eight were missing after a South Korean fishing boat capsized, a coast guard official and media reports said on Sunday. SEOUL: At least 10 people died and about eight were missing after a South Korean fishing boat capsized, a coast guard official and media reports said on Sunday. The boat was found capsized earlier this morning, after it lost radio contact late on Saturday, a coast guard official in the southern island of Jeju said by telephone. The bodies of 10 people were recovered in the waters near the island of Chuja, which…... [read more]
At least eight people died and about 10 were missing after a South Korean fishing boat capsized, a coast guard official and media reports said on Sunday. The boat was found capsized earlier this morning, after it lost radio contact late on Saturday, a coast guard official in the southern island of Jeju said by telephone. The bodies of eight people were recovered in the waters near the island of Chuja, which lies between the mainland south coast and Jeju, the official said. Three people were pulled from the water and airlifted to hospitals, the coast guard official said, adding…... [read more]
All 90 people aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane were feared dead after it plunged into the Mediterranean, minutes after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather on Monday. The planes disappeared from radar screens shortly after takeoff Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar some five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m. (0037 GMT) during a thunderstorm. The Lebanese army said the plane had broken up in the air before plummeting into rough seas and hopes of finding any survivors faded 12 hours after the crash. Witnesses described the impact as…... [read more]
