Scores of people were feared dead after a ship carrying 850 migrants fleeing the conflict in Libya capsized off Tunisia's coast, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday.
The tragedy appears to be one of the worst and the deadliest incidents in the Mediterranean so far this year, Adrian Edwards, the spokesman for the UNHCR, said
The Geneva-based agency said at least 578 of the estimated 850 people on board, mostly from West Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh, survived the sinking.
The ship, manned by people with little or no maritime experience, set sail on Saturday afternoon from Tripoli and was headed for Lampedusa in Italy, Edwards said.
"It ran into difficulties soon after departure and experienced problems with its steering and power," he said. "Effectively lost at sea, by the third day of the journey the passengers ran out of food and water."
The ship ultimately ran aground on Wednesday on a sandbank near the Kerkennah islands, some 300 kilometers northwest of Tripoli. It capsized as desperate passengers rushed to one side, seeking rescue by the Tunisian coast guard and fishing boats that had approached the vessel.
Many fell into the water. Women and children were among the missing, survivors told the refugee agency.
UNHCR revised its earlier statement that said 150 bodies had been recovered from the sea.
Col. Jalloul Jaballah, who heads the emergency response unit in the region, said only one body had been pulled out of the water and another person died while being transferred because of bad weather.
Edwards said Friday that survivors were being taken to refugee camps where they will receive counseling and assistance.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/03/136931701/dozens-of-migrants-feared-drowned-in-shipwreck?ft=1&f=1004
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.