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Migrants Die Trying to Reach Italy

The rescued migrants were taken to Sicily, where they will be given food, clothes and health checks before being referred to reception centres and social services.

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Earlier in the week, Italian ships rescued more than 400 migrants from four boats in the Mediterranean sea, among them four newborns and one young child.

Most of the migrant boats are not seaworthy resulting in mishaps before reaching their destination.

“Unfortunately the rubber was of a very bad quality”, said one of the survivors.

The rapid increase in the flow of migrants comes after 170,000 migrants arrived into Europe in 2014.

All the victims of the rickety boat were from sub-Saharan countries such as Senegal, Mali and Benin.

The Spanish Civil Guard rescued 58 migrants in Italian waters this week and arrested three people responsible for illegally trafficking the individuals, the general directorate of the Civil Guard said Wednesday in a statement.

A team from the Save the Children charity that interviewed some of the survivors said up to seven teenagers, aged about 15 or 16, were also believed to have died in the incident.

Sami told the Reuters news agency that the boat they were travelling in started to disintegrate shortly after it put to sea from the Tripoli area.

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.

More than 1,900 migrants have died so far this year making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.

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Save the Children reports that another 35-40 African refugees have drowned while trying to reach Italy from Libya.

Italian coast guard rescues 414 boat migrants including 4 newborns