MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2021) At least 17 migrants drowned and over 160 others were rescued from a shipwreck off of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Thursday.
"Another tragedy @Mediterranean sea. At least 17 migrants drowned in a shipwreck off Tunisia as they tried to cross to Italy from Libya. More than 160 have been saved by the coast guard. Tunisia Red Crescent provided them with food & medical support," IFRC middle East and North Africa tweeted.
Since the start of the year, the International Organization for Migration has registered 955 deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean, up from the 409 logged over the same period in 2020.
The number of migrants who have been intercepted while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Italy tripled to over 13,000 year-on-year during the first half of 2021, Duccio Staderini, the search and rescue representative for Doctors Without Borders, told Sputnik earlier this week.
