Refugee Boats Capsize: 1 Bangladeshi among 7 dead
One of the seven persons who died after four inflatable crafts sank in the Mediterranean on Sunday has been identified by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as a Bangladeshi man.
"We confirm 7 corpses belonging to 5 men, of which one was identified as a Senegalese man and a Bangladeshi man and 2 Nigerian women," IOM Senior Press Officer Joel A Millman stated in an email to this correspondent.
Joel, however, could not give details of the Bangladeshi man. He said about 15 to 20 migrants were still missing.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said nearly 500 migrants were saved through four different operations after the crafts sank while sailing towards Italy from Libya.
The agency said it was gathering more information from those rescued and about the circumstances of the rescue efforts.
Among those feared dead, some were crushed by other people in the boat, while others drowned at sea, said the UNHCR.
"The victims include a child, women and some men - mostly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and reportedly from Bangladesh. Seven bodies were recovered and taken with the survivors to Trapani [in Italy]," it added.
With this latest incident, it is estimated that over 1,350 people are now missing or dead in the Mediterranean Sea. Over 95 people have lost their lives over the past few weeks alone.
According to Bangladesh embassy officials in Tripoli, an estimated 20,000 Bangladeshis are still in civil war-torn Libya either waiting to return home or cross the Mediterranean to reach Italy.
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