At least 94 people,
including a pregnant woman and two children, died when a boat capsized and
caught fire off the island of Lampedusa, the Italian coast guard told CNN on
Thursday.
The coast guard has been able to save at least 151 people, and the
rescue operation is ongoing.
The boat is thought to have been carrying up to 500 people. Those
aboard include Eritreans, Somalis and Ghanaians, the coast guard said, and the
boat is thought to have launched from Libya's coast.
Lampedusa, the closest Italian island to Africa, has become a
destination for tens of thousands of refugees seeking to enter European Union
countries.
The head of the U.N. refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, praised the
efforts of the Italian coast guard but said he was "dismayed at the rising
global phenomenon of migrants and people fleeing conflict or persecution andperishing
at sea."
Another 13 men drowned off Italy's southern coast Monday when they
attempted to swim ashore, the U.N agency said in a statement
It is working with countries in the region to find "effective
alternatives" so people don't risk their lives trying to make perilous
journeys by sea, it said.
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