BREAKING NEWS, Disasters
THE International Organisation on Migration, IOM, has said that 128 migrants, comprising Nigerians and other West Africans, died while crossing Mediterranean Sea to Europe between March 6 and 26.
Other countries, whose citizen were involved in the mishap, are Gambia, Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Guinea Bissau and Guinea Conakry.
Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman of the IOM, in a statement said that the number made it 649 deaths recorded in the first 86 days of 2017 while 521 deaths were recorded in the first 65 days of 2017.
He said the number of deaths recorded in the first 86 days of 2017 was higher compared with 566 deaths recorded in the same period on March 26, 2016.
He said 26,589 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through March 26, with over 80 per cent arriving in Italy and the rest in Spain and Greece. Di Giacomo said the number was, however, lower compared with 163,895 recorded through the first 86 days of 2016.
He said that 2,320 migrants were brought to land between March 23 and 24, 2017.
Another set of 1,160 migrants which did not include the number above were brought to land on March 25 and 26. He stated that one corpse was found on a dinghy, which was carrying 138 migrants.
Di Giacomo said Proactiva OpenArms, an NGO, retrieved the remains of five migrants from a capsized dinghy in addition to a sixth victim it retrieved near the original site of the shipwreck.
The IOM believes the dinghy found by OpenArms is the same one that IOM Libya reported was rescued by Libyan fishermen who saved 54 people on 21 March.
The 54 survivors brought to Libya said that approximately 120 migrants were on board including six dead while 66 victims remained unaccounted for in that tragedy.
— Mar 30, 2017 @ 15:55 GMT
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