What We Know About the Latest Deaths in European Migrant Crisis
About 2,342 migrants have died in the Mediterranean this year.
— -- Hundreds of people are feared dead off the coast of Libya in the latest shipwreck of migrants desperately trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
“We are still waiting for more details, but we have learned there were 400 migrants on one of two boats; 100 have already been rescued," the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Chief of Mission for Libya, Othman Belbeisi, said in a news release today.
At least 100 bodies were taken to a hospital in Libya, the IOM said.
Libyan authorities "are expecting to receive another 150 survivors today. The rest of the people are still missing in the sea," Belbeisi said.
Here is what you need to know about the latest victims in the ongoing European migrant crisis:
Who are they?
Of the 100 people already saved, nine were women and two were girls, Belbeisi said.
The bodies recovered included five children, ages between 1 and 3, according to the IOM.
Where are they from?
Flavio Di Giacomo of the IOM said, according to media reports from Libya, victims included migrants from Syria, Bangladesh and some sub-Saharan African countries, although the information could not be verified.
Zuwara, on the coast of Libya, is a major launch pad for the thousands of people fleeing poverty and persecution. Zuwara's coastline spans 120 kilometers.
Why are more people dying overall?
"Smugglers are becoming increasingly violent and cruel," Federico Soda, director of IOM’s Coordinating Office for the Mediterranean in Rome, said in a release by IOM. "Migrants are forced to stay in the hold, where they asphyxiate."
Migrants in the Mediterranean, by the numbers
This was just the latest in many unsuccessful attempts for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in hopes of reaching Europe.
This year so far, about 2,432 migrants have died while traveling to Europe, according to IOM.
Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean region account for about 72 percent of global migrant deaths so far in 2015, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
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