More Than 400 Refugees Drown in Mediterranean Sea After Boats Capsize

Relatives of the 400 refugees, mostly Somalians, confirmed the boats capsized while on their way to Italy.
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More Than 400 Refugees Drown in Mediterranean Sea After Boats Capsize
A boy plays with an abandoned tent in the makeshift refugee camp at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Thursday, March 31, 2016. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
4/18/2016
Updated:
4/18/2016

Hundreds of refugees fleeing Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea are said to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after attempting to reach Italy in “four rickety boats,” according to the BBC.

A dinghy carrying refugees and migrants crosses the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on Nov. 10, 2015. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
A dinghy carrying refugees and migrants crosses the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos on Nov. 10, 2015. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)

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According to The Independent, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella said: “Yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean in which, it seems, several hundred people have died.”

The tragedy is the latest in a string of drownings involving ships carrying migrants to Europe.

Exactly one year-to-date, a boat carrying 850, mostly-African immigrants capsized after a freighter approached. Only 28 made it out alive.

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So far in 2016, roughly 24,000 migrants have taken the trip from Africa to Italy successfully, with tens of thousands awaiting to make the journey.

Thousands have required rescue from the Italian coast guard—due to overloaded ships, dead engines or lack of fuel for the near-200 mile journey.