A boat carrying around 600 people capsized off Egypt’s coast, killing at least 29, officials said on Wednesday, in the latest disaster to befall migrants attempting to make the crossing to Europe.
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The bodies of 10 people who died by drowning have been transported to a local hospital to be identified, local security chief Alaa al-Din Shawki said in a statement.
Rescue workers have saved 150 people, MENA said.
The number of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Europe has increased significantly in the past year, European Union border agency Frontex said earlier this month.
The boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Burg Rashid, a village in the northern Beheira province.
People smugglers most frequently use Libya or Turkey as departure points for overloaded boats headed towards Europe. More than 12,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Egypt between January and September, compared to 7,000 in the same period previous year, it said.
In April, 400 refugees traveling from Egypt to Italy drowned in the Mediterranean, with the majority of the migrants originating from North Somalia.
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Some 206,400 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
