Aid group fears hundreds of migrants drown in Libya

Madrid: Hundreds of migrants may have died off Libya's coast, a Spanish aid organization said Friday, and Turkish media reported that 11 migrants died after a boat sank in the Aegean, reports AP.
Video footage from DHA in Turkey showed a half-dozen covered bodies that were laid out near ambulances. The migrants' boat capsized near the Turkish resort town of Kusadasi and nine people were rescued, the Turkish Coast Guard Command said. It said two people, believed to be smugglers, were detained.
Concerns about the missing migrants near Libya rose after Spain*s Proactiva Open Arms group found five bodies near two capsized boats on Thursday. Proactiva spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said the German aid organization Jugend Rettet found a sixth body in the area Friday.
The International Organization for Migrations said it had no confirmation of the two boats mentioned by Proactiva near the Libyan coast, but believed the bodies could be part of an earlier wreckage. About 120 people were believed to be on board a smuggler's boat that capsized on March 21, the IOM said, but only 54 were rescued.
Meanwhile, the search for a third vessel reported missing in the area has so far proved futile.Lanuza said their vessel was expected to arrive Saturday at the Italian port of Catania to hand over the bodies of the five young men who had drowned.

 

Aid group fears hundreds of migrants drown in Libya

Madrid: Hundreds of migrants may have died off Libyas coast, a Spanish aid organization said Friday, and Turkish media reported that 11 migrants died after a boat sank in the Aegean, reports AP. Video footage from DHA in Turkey showed a half-dozen covered bodies that were laid out near ambulances. The migrants boat capsized near the Turkish resort town of Kusadasi and nine people were rescued, the Turkish Coast Guard Command said. It said two people, believed to be smugglers, were detained. Concerns about the missing migrants near Libya rose after Spain*s Proactiva Open Arms group found five bodies near two capsized boats on Thursday. Proactiva spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said the German aid organization Jugend Rettet found a sixth body in the area Friday. The International Organization for Migrations said it had no confirmation of the two boats mentioned by Proactiva near the Libyan coast, but believed the bodies could be part of an earlier wreckage. About 120 people were believed to be on board a smugglers boat that capsized on March 21, the IOM said, but only 54 were rescued. Meanwhile, the search for a third vessel reported missing in the area has so far proved futile.Lanuza said their vessel was expected to arrive Saturday at the Italian port of Catania to hand over the bodies of the five young men who had drowned.