ROME, Italy - Up to 400 illegal migrants died after their
vessel capsized off the Libyan coast last Sunday, said survivors who were brought
to Italy, where tension is mounting over a surge in boat arrivals from North
Africa.The Italian coastguard on Monday said they had managed to rescue 144 of the people on the sunken vessel, while nine bodies were also recovered.
The International Organization for Migration and the charity Save the Children said between 144 and 150 survivors arrived at
Reggio
Calabria, on Italy's southern tip, on Tuesday morning."There were 400 victims in this shipwreck, which occurred 24 hours after (their vessel) left the Libyan coast," Save the Children said in a statement, citing survivors.
“There were several young males, probably minors, among the victims” and also children among those rescued, the international NGO said.
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