The moment when the boat overturned and the migrants were tipped into the sea “was like being flung from a catapult”, Mohamed, a Palestinian farmer, told MSF in a story recounted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Advertisement
“People know the dangers when they board these boats yet our teams have rescued children as young as two months old from the Med”.
Ireland’s Minister for Defence Simon Coveney warned Wednesday evening that the death toll was likely to rise.
The Irish naval vessel Le Niamh was one of several ships requested by the Italian coast guard to speed to the rescue of the overturned boat shortly before noon, Irish Capt. Donal Gallagher told the Associated Press.
The Mediterranean Sea has become the world’s most deadly border area for migrants.
“It was a horrific sight, people desperately clinging to lifebelts, boats and anything they could, fighting for their lives, amidst people drowning, and those who had already died”, said Juan Matias, a project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Spokesman for the United Nations Commission for Refugees Federico Fossi said as many as 100 people may have been in the hull when the boat capsized.
The latest shipwreck was set to shift the focus in the immigration debate back to the struggles of those fleeing war zones, after weeks of complaints from France and Britain over the disruption caused by asylum seekers at the Channel Tunnel.
The Irish navy, whose rescue boat Le Niamh was the first on the scene, said it expected “significant loss of life” and aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) confirmed “many deaths”.
Almost all of those crossing the Mediterranean so far this year have landed either in Italy (97,000) or Greece (90,500), according to the IOM.
In 2014, the IOM stated that many died last year in the Strait of Sicily specifically in the route connecting Libya and Italy after smugglers and traffickers used inappropriate sea vessels. Survivors indicated that between 400 and 600 people were aboard the smugglers’ boat, he added.
“I think the important point to remember in all of this is had those 20 boats arrived, 200 boats or 2,000 boats would have followed them”, Dutton said.
Advertisement
It’s understood the boat went down instantly when migrants rushed to one side to be rescued.
