WEB DESK /
Hundreds of migrants drowned when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean. Although there is no official confirmation, but survivors have said that up to 500 people died. Coastguards in the region were unable to confirm their accounts.
The survivors, from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Egypt, spoke to the agency from the southern Greek city of Kalamata, where they are being held after their rescue. Rescued migrants are taken off the boat.
The Presidents of both Somalia and the self-declared Republic of Somali land offered their condolences over the incident. The Somali embassy in Cairo put the death toll at almost 400.
Numbers of migrants making the dangerous sea route from Libya to Italy have surged this year. About 180,000 people have attempted to reach Europe by sea this year, with nearly 800 lives lost, the UN says.