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Over 200 Migrants Dead in Shipwrecks Near Libya

by VOA News

   More than 200 migrants drowned in two separate shipwrecks off the coast
   of Libya, multiple survivors told the U.N.

   Survivors who arrived in Italy on Thursday said their boat, which had
   been carrying more than 100 people, had left Libya before dawn and
   capsized a few hours later, Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the U.N.
   refugee agency, said.

   Two women found swimming at sea told rescuers they were on a separate
   boat carrying around 120 people.

   Most of the people on board the vessels are believed to have been
   sub-Saharan or West African.

   Twelve bodies, including three babies, were recovered, according to the
   Reuters news agency.

   This tragedy brings the total of migrant lives claimed in the
   Mediterranean to 4,220 in 2016, compared with 3,777 in all of 2015.