Dozens feared dead in migrant tragedy

The Save the Children aid group reported another migrant tragedy on Tuesday, with survivors saying “dozens” of their fellow passengers fell out of their rubber boat and likely drowned in the Mediterranean as a rescue vessel neared.

Save the Children’s Giovanna di Benedetto said from Catania, Sicily, that the exact toll wasn’t known. But she said that survivors, in their first interviews with aid officials once they reached shore, reported that many people fell into the sea and couldn’t swim.

The incident is believed to have occurred on Sunday in the sea between Libya and Sicily when a commercial vessel approached to rescue the migrant boat. The vessel arrived in Catania today and the survivors disembarked.

The weekend saw a dramatic increase in rescues as smugglers in Libya took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to send thousands of would-be refugees out into the Mediterranean in overloaded rubber boats and fishing vessels.