25 migrants dead in rubber boat in the Mediterranean

ROME: Twenty-five migrants were found dead in the bottom of a rubber boat in the Mediterranean, aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday, as sea deaths look set to break last year’s record.

Rescuers found the dead, who had apparently suffocated after inhaling fuel, in a packed boat 26 miles from the coast of Libya that was also carrying 107 survivors, MSF said in a statement.

It took three hours to recover 11 of the trapped corpses, which were submerged in a mix of sea water and fuel, MSF said, so rescuers enlisted the help of Sea-Watch, another aid group.

MSF said its staff also saved 139 people from another raft in the area, and Sea Watch recovered one body in a separate operation.

Among those rescued on Tuesday, 23 people had chemical burns, MSF said. The medical evacuation had to be arranged for seven of the injured, two of whom were taken to Italy by helicopter.

One young woman was intubated by the onboard medical team before being evacuated, to stabilize her condition.

“Sea rescue operations are becoming a race through a maritime graveyard and our rescue boats powerless to stop the loss of life,” MSF said on Twitter.

A total 500 migrants were pulled to safety from overcrowded boats on Tuesday, according to the Italian Coast Guard, which coordinates rescue operations in the



stretch of sea which has become the world’s deadliest crossing point for migrants.

MSF’s ship “Bourbon Argos” is due to bring 11 corpses and 246 survivors on Thursday to the port of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

At least 3,800 migrants have perished this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the highest ever toll ever on the perilous route, the UN said Wednesday.

“We can confirm that at least 3,800 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, making the death toll in 2016 the highest ever recorded,” UN refugee agency spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an e-mail, as the figures passed last year’s mark of 3,771.

The somber milestone was reached despite a significant decline in migrant crossing this year compared to 2015.

Last year, more than a million people reached Europe via the Mediterranean, but crossings so far this year remain below 330,000.

Numbers began dropping dramatically following a March deal between Turkey and the European Union to stem the migrant tide on the Greek islands.

The most dangerous route has been between Libya and Italy, where the United Nations has recorded one death for every 47 arrivals this year.

For the much shorter Turkey to Greece route, the likelihood of perishing was one in 88, UNHCR said.