A total of 4,027 migrants or refugees have perished worldwide so far this year, three-quarters of them in the Mediterranean, Millman said. Mainly African migrants are taking often unseaworthy boats from Libya to Italy, gateway to Europe. The figures represents a 35 per cent increase on the global toll during the first seven months of 2015, he said. Nearly 8,000 were rescued at sea between Friday to Monday on that central Mediterranean route, Millman told a briefing. The bodies had been discovered near Sabratha and had not come from previously known shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

Source: The Star August 02, 2016 12:00 UTC