At least 40 migrants died attempting to cross the Mediterranean
and another 312 had to be rescued, the Italian navy said after encountering
their boat Saturday.
Additional
details about how the 40 died were not immediately available.
The navy said
that it had transferred the survivors to the Norwegian supply ship Siem Pilot,
which is patrolling the central Mediterranean as part of the ongoing European
Union effort to assist seafaring migrants.
Last month the
Siem Pilot ferried 785 migrants safely to port after the Italian coast guard
rescued them from a wooden boat and a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast.
Saturday's
episode is the latest in a string of disasters in the Mediterranean in what has
been a deadly year for migrants at sea.
The International Organization for Migration (IOMC) said more
than 2,300 migrants have died making the journey from sub-Saharan Africa to
Europe in 2015, already making it the deadliest on record.
Rescues off the
Italian and Greek coasts meanwhile are occurring at a rate of more than 1,000
migrants per day, according to IOMC.
"These
latest tragedies underscore the dangers faced by migrants in the Channel of
Sicily, now the deadliest route for those fleeing violence, natural disasters
and abject poverty," the migration agency said in a statement.
IOMC predicts
the number migrants arriving on European shores will reach a quarter-million by
the end of August, a number that would surpass the total number from 2014.
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