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          Boat Carrying Hundreds of Migrants Capsizes in Mediterranean

   by VOA News

   A rescue operation is under way for migrants aboard a boat that
   capsized in the Mediterranean Sea early Friday, according to Greek
   officials.

   Over 250 people of the "significant number" of passengers thrown into
   the water have already been rescued off the Greek island of Crete.

   "People are in the water, boats crossing the area have thrown lifebuoys
   and are moving to save the migrants," a spokeswoman for the Greek coast
   guard said.

   "The number of people in distress could be counted in the hundreds,"
   she added.

   It is not immediately clear where the boat came from or the
   nationalities of passengers on board. Nigerians and Gambians are among
   the most common migrants making the journey from Libya to Greece,
   though an increasing number of Somalians and Eritreans are also
   fleeing.

   Though most Syrian refugees enter Europe by land through Turkey, a boat
   carrying 65 Syrians, Afghans and Pakistanis was intercepted off the
   Greek coast last week.

   An estimated 880 migrants and refugees died trying to cross the
   Mediterranean Sea during the past week, according to the U.N. Refugee
   Agency (UNHCR).

   It brings the total of lives lost in the first five months of 2016 to
   more than 2,500 people who attempted to reach Europe among many
   thousands. By contrast 1,855 people died in the same period of 2015.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/migrant-boat-capsizes-in-mediterranea
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/migrant-boat-capsizes-in-mediterranean/3360068.html