Herbalist Dr MziziMkavu
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 3, 2009
- 42,809
- 34,193
Jana meli ya wakimbizi ilizama katika pwani ya Libya, jeshi la majini la Italia limewaokoa watu 500. Watu 7 wamefariki, na idadi ya vifo huenda ikaongezeka.
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At least five people have died and hundreds have been rescued after a wooden fishing boat carrying refugees capsized off the coast of Libya.
Some 550 people, including women and children, were rescued by Navy swimmers, the Italian navy said on Wednesday.
Photographs of the incident show the blue fishing boat rocking precariously before capsizing and sending the refugees into the sea.
Some of the passengers were pictured climbing onto the hull of the overturned vessel, while other swam for safety to life boats or towards the navy ship.
Navy swimmers are also shown pulling migrants in lifebelts toward the Bettica. No details of the migrants' nationalities have been given.
Reports by Associated Press suggest seven bodies may have been recovered.
The vessel was spotted in a "precarious condition" by Navy ship Bettica while on patrol in the southern Mediterranean.
"Shortly afterwards the boat overturned due to overcrowding. The Bettica, which had arrived nearby, threw life-rafts and jackets to the migrants in the water," the Navy said in a statement.
Several motor boats are being used in the rescue operations which are still underway, and the navy frigate Bergamini has deployed a helicopter.
Boat arrivals rose sharply this week in conjunction with warmer weather and calm seas. Italy's coastguard said 5,600 migrants were rescued on Monday and Tuesday, and officials fear numbers will increase as conditions improve.
In the past two years, more than 320,000 boat migrants have arrived on Italian shores and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Source: Reuters
