Migrant deaths in first two weeks of 2017 reach double last year’s figures at same period
It’s only two weeks into 2017 but the number of migrants believed to have drowned while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe has hit 219, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The current figure is more than double that of 2016 at the same period.
The latest incident happened over the weekend as a migrant boat capsized carrying nearly 180 people.
The Italian coastguard said the boat had not been found so there was no way to determine the number of passengers. Survivors were taken to Sicily on Monday.
IOM said the total death toll for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in the first two weeks of 2016 was 91.
The agency is also looking into reports of some 25 migrants perishing at sea between Morocco and Spain in recent days.
