Dozens Die As Migrant Boat Sinks In Mediterranean

A boat carrying an estimated 137 people sank south of Sicily, Save the Children says. Dozens of migrants drowned in the Mediterranean. The aid group says survivors reported that up to 40 people fell into the sea as a rescue vessel was approaching. The survivors arrived in the city of Catania on Tuesday. At least 1,750 people have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean, a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014. As stated by Giovanna di Benedetto, Save the Children’s representative in Catania, the latest sinking is thought to have happened on Sunday, but the exact toll was not known. “They [survivors]said there were 137 people aboard an inflatable boat that deflated or exploded – it wasn’t clear – and that some of them fell overboard,” Ms di Benedetto told AFP news agency. Survivors say dozens of people fell into the sea and drowned because they could not swim “Some said ‘very many’ died, others said ‘around 40′,” she also stated. The survivors were picked up by a Maltese merchant ship. About 100 people were found on a second boat, with no deaths reported, the aid agency added. The number of migrants attempting to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean has risen in recent weeks as smugglers take advantage of fair weather. The Italian coastguard says about 7,000 people have been rescued and 10 bodies recovered off the Libyan coast in the past three days.