Most of the passengers were believed to be from Syria, though their nationalities have not yet been confirmed.
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Almost all of the people crossing the Mediterranean during the first seven months of the year, often in rickety boats and at the mercy of human traffickers, have landed in Greece (124,000) and in Italy (98,000), he said.
Of the various routes, the Central Mediterranean Passage remains one of the more precarious transit paths for migrants in the world.
Rescuers believe at least 100 people who were trapped in the hold when the boat capsized would have drowned immediately. These people would have had nearly no chance to escape, experts said.
The moment when the boat overturned and the migrants were tipped into the sea on Wednesday “was like being flung from a catapult”, Mohamed, a Palestinian farmer, told MSF in a story recounted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
More than 1,130 migrants were rescued Thursday from four other vessels.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost their lives, the survivors and the rescuers for whom this is an extremely hard operation”, Coveney said.
“It’s total chaos on the islands”, he said, describing desperate, exhausted people, including women, children and unaccompanied minors, searching for food, water, shelter and information about how to proceed.
The migrants are likely to be assessed and interviewed before heading into a reception centre.
“After he came out with the baby, they were seen, they were rescued and they were brought aboard” Dignity1, Gil said. This drives them to say, I cant make it here and we are going to go to Europe, she explained.
The group said it began tending to the victims, five of whom were in such bad medical shape that they required evacuation by helicopter.
But an emergency worker in Malta who helped in the rescue effort tells the BBC, “I think it’s unlikely that any additional survivors will be picked up”.
A boat carrying around 700 people off the Libyan coast might have killed hundreds when it capsized in the Mediterranean as a result of rough weather on Wednesday, according to reports. Only 28 people, including two alleged smugglers, survived.
“As in 2014, the overwhelming majority died in the Channel of Sicily on the Central Mediterranean route connecting Libya and Italy, where unseaworthy vessels used by smugglers and traffickers significantly increase the likelihood of tragedies occurring”, the organization said.
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He said that by the end of July, around 224,000 refugees and migrants had arrived in Europe by sea. Some anti-immigration politicians in Europe contend the rescue operations only encourage more migrants to tempt their fate at sea.
