EDIS Number: VI-20140719-44594-LBY
Date / time: 19/07/2014 04:24:09 [UTC]
Event: Vehicle Accident
Area: Africa
Country: Libya
State/County:
Location: [The area was not defined]
Number of Deads: N/A
Number of Injured: N/A
Number of Infected: N/A
Number of Missing: 60 person(s)
Number of Affected: N/A
Number of Evacuated: N/A
Damage level: N/A
Description:
About 60 people may have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, according to accounts from rescued survivors being escorted to Italian shores in news reports Friday. Some 62 migrants were picked up by a merchant ship directed to the scene of the accident by the Italian coast guard. They told rescuers that there were more than twice as many people on the boat that carried them, according to the ANSA news agency. Italian authorities did not confirm the information. In a statement, the coast guard said more than 2,600 people were rescued from Mediterranean waters on Thursday. Six hundred were taken to Pozzallo, in mainland Sicily, and 863 to the island of Lampedusa. No final destination had been found for about 1,200 more. The Italian navy, which is coordinating the Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue mission, spoke of 3,510 boat migrants intercepted in the past two days.
