Third shipwreck in four days claims another hundred lives

ROME – A third migrant boat sank whilst tackling the treacherous Mediterranean crossing, UN refugee agency, UNHCR Libya confirmed on Tuesday, adding as many as 114 lives to a soaring death toll.

 The unseaworthy, overcrowded rubber boat, rammed with desperate men, women and children had set off from Gars Garabulli, east of Tripoli, two days before the disastrous incident.

 There are “16 survivors of a boat carrying 130 persons, of which 114 are still missing at sea,” UNHCR Libya, announced, adding that they are “appalled by the loss of life.”

 The scant information gathered from survivors has revealed a desperate panic on board the boat as jarring screams signalled the nightmare scenario.

 “Almost 1,000 refugees and migrants have perished while being smuggled across the Mediterranean this year,” UNHCR Libya said, confirming that Tuesday’s tragic news adds to the disturbing number of deaths at sea.

 On Sunday, as many as 63 drowned after their vessel capsized, whilst last Friday, at least 100 people died when a boat carrying around 123 refugees and migrants sank off the coast of Tajoura in Libya.

 “There is an alarming increase in deaths off the coast of Libya. Traffickers are taking advantage of the desperate desire of migrants to leave before, and as for Europe, there are further crackdowns on Mediterranean crossings,” the head of IOM, the United Nations Agency for Migration, Othman Belbeisi, warned.

 “This is the hardest day of my life, I didn’t know if to save myself, my children or my friends” one of the few survivors said upon arriving back on Libyan soil.

 The Italian government, meanwhile, has approved the transfer of 10 patrol boats to Tripoli in order to bolster the Libyan Coast Guard.

 Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Danilo Toninelli confirmed that Italy would make a significant economic contribution to aid Libya as the Italian government looks to implement plans to create water-tight ports, having recently turned away increasing numbers of NGO vessels, drastically hindering charity rescue operations.

 “We must work to stabilize the scenario, strengthen the rule of law and protect the dignity of people on the soil of the nascent Libyan state,” Toninelli said, adding that “the Italian government and this ministry are working effectively to eradicate the shipwrecks of migrants in the middle of the Mediterranean.”

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