U.N.: At least 240 migrants dead in shipwrecks off Libya

Over the past 24 hours, at least 240 migrants have drowned off the coast of Libya, despite an attempt by five ships to rescue them, the International Organization for Migration said Thursday.

The organization's chief spokesman, Leonard Doyle, said several rubber dinghies were packed with migrants, and hundreds "succumbed to the waves of Libya in very bad weather." On one dinghy, survivors said they departed Libya at 3 a.m. Wednesday, and started to sink just a few hours later. Of the 26 survivors, 20 were women and six were children from West Africa; rescuers recovered 12 bodies from that wreck.

More and more smugglers are putting migrants on "completely unsafe" dinghies because the fishing boats they had been using have been seized by European navies, Doyle said. IOM's Italy spokesman, Flavio di Giacomo, said rescued migrants report that smugglers are telling them that because the Libyan coast guard is being trained by European partners, if the migrants are rescued, soon they will be brought back to Libya rather than Italy; that could be why they are making the risky journey, despite poor weather. In October, 27,388 migrants arrived in Italy, more than the previous two Octobers combined, di Giacomo said. So far this year, 4,220 migrants have died in the Mediterranean.

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