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          Aid Group: About 40 Migrants Reportedly Drown During Rescue

   by VOA News

   The Save the Children aid group reported that dozens of people may have
   died in Sunday's rescue attempt of a migrant ship between Libya and
   Sicily, according to survivors who have reached shore.

   A spokeswoman for [1]Save the Children told reporters Tuesday that
   migrants brought by their rescuers to Sicily are telling aid workers
   they saw dozens of fellow passengers fall out of their rubber boat
   Sunday as a rescue vessel approached. The survivors said they do not
   believe the missing migrants could swim.

   Save the Children told the French news agency AFP that there were about
   137 people aboard an inflatable boat that deflated or exploded. It is
   unclear how many people may have died. A spokeswoman said some
   witnesses estimate around 40 people disappeared.

   The migrants were among nearly 6,800 refugees Italian officials were
   struggling to find shelter for in Sicily and on the Italian mainland,
   after the migrants were rescued at sea Sunday off the coast of Libya.

   Authorities previously said that at least 10 migrants drowned in the
   last few days as they attempted to escape Libya for a more stable life
   in Europe.

   The migrants arriving in southern Italy are being dispersed to
   reception centers across the country. Humanitarian aid workers said
   that many of them have legitimate claims to asylum in Europe as they
   are fleeing conflict and repression in countries such as Syria and
   Eritrea.

   Some humanitarian aid groups have called for a country-by-country
   European Union quota to accept the migrants as they arrive on the
   continent's shores.

   Italy said mild weather and a calm Mediterranean are expected to push
   the number of migrant arrivals to 200,000 this year - 30,000 more than
   in 2014.

   The unrelenting flood of migrants is continuing even after more than
   800 people drowned when their overcrowded boat capsized last month. The
   captain of that boat mistakenly rammed it into a commercial ship.

   Following April shipwrecks that killed more than 1,200 people, European
   leaders at a summit agreed to strengthen the EU presence at sea,
   deciding to triple the previous $3.4 million-a-month funding for the
   operation run by the Frontex border agency.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/aid-group-some-migrants-reported-drow
   ned-in-massive-rescue/2749709.html

References

   1. http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6115947/k.B143/Official_USA_Site.htm
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/aid-group-some-migrants-reported-drowned-in-massive-rescue/2749709.html