MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Around 130 asylum seekers are feared dead as a rubber boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the SOS Mediterranee non-governmental organization said.
"Today, after hours of search, our worst fear has come true. The crew of the Ocean Viking had to witness the devastating aftermath of the shipwreck of a rubber boat north east of Tripoli. This boat had been reported in distress with around 130 people onboard on Wednesday morning," the charity said in a statement on Thursday.
According to SOS Mediterranee, a plane of the EU border agency Frontex spotted the wreck of the capsized boat, while later, the charity's ship, Ocean Viking, found no survivors and saw at least 10 bodies of the victims.
"We are heartbroken. We think of the lives that have been lost and of the families who might never have certainty as to what happened to their loved ones," the charity said.
Europe has been witnessing an influx of migrants and refugees within the past several years, who escape from war and poverty in their countries: in Africa and the middle East. many asylum seekers die in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe. According to SOS Mediterranee more than 350 migrants have already lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea this year, apart from those who died in the latest incident.
