Hundreds feared dead in Mediterranean shipwreck: witnesses tell UNHCR
The Italian Navy has already rescued thousands of migrants whose vessels sank while they attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya. By Handout (Italian Navy/AFP/File)
Rome (AFP) - Migrants rescued from a small boat in the Mediterranean told the UN refugee agency they had witnessed a shipwreck that claimed 500 lives, a UNHCR spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The 41 survivors from Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt described seeing "a large shipwreck that took place in the Mediterranean Sea claiming the lives of approximately 500 people," Carlotta Sami said in a statement sent to AFP.