427 people have died in 2019 trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe – UNHCR
The United Nations refugee agency says that the number of people that have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe has hit 427 so far since the turn of the year.
UNHCR released the figures on Wednesday following the latest sea incident that saw seven people drown on Tuesday following a shipwreck off the Greek island of Lesvos.
According to the UN migration agency, IOM, 41 people have died so far trying cross to the so-called Eastern Mediterranean route linking Africa and the Middle East to Europe, which is one of the busiest routes for migrants.
Tuesday incident saw 57 people rescued. More than half the passengers on the boat had come three Sub-Saharan African countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Angola.
Among the dead were four adult women, one adult male and two young girls. According to Greek authorities, the victims were retrieved from the water unconscious and were rushed to a local hospital, where their deaths were confirmed.
UNHCR estimates that some 15,459 people have risked their lives reaching Europe by sea so far this year. In 2018, countries in the European Economic Area received 26,852 resettled refugees through national and EU programmes.
