About 700 migrants crossing from Libya to Italy feared dead in Mediterranean sea

Around 14,000 migrants trying to cross from Libya to Europe have been rescued from the Mediterranean sea since Monday and about three cases of boats capsizing reported amid calm seas.

"We will never know exact numbers," Medecins San Frontieres said in a Tweet after estimating that 900 had died during the week. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 700 had drowned.

Rescued migrants interviewed on Saturday in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told of a large fishing boat that capsized on Thursday with many women and children on board.
Initial estimates was that about 400 people had died, but the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday there may have been about 670 passengers on board.

According to testimony collected by EU border agency Frontex, when the motorless fishing boat capsized, 25 swam to the boat that had been towing it, while 79-89 others were saved by rescuers and 15 bodies were recovered. This meant more than 550 died, the UNHCR said.

Also according to humanitarian groups reports, last week's migrants arrivals included Eritreans, Sudanese, Nigerians and many other West Africans.

About 40,660 arrivals had been counted as at Friday last week, 2 per cent fewer than the same period of last year, the Interior Ministry said.

The migrants made the risky journey in unstable rubber boats or old fishing vessels capable of capsizing with its occupants in a matter of seconds.
About 100 migrants are thought to have either been trapped in the hull or after their boat tumble into the sea on Wednesday.
45 bodies were collected and 135 rescued by the Italian Navy ship Vega on Friday135 from a "half submerged" rubber boat. Actual number of migrants on the boat is unknown, but the rubber boats usually carry around 300.