At least 17 people died when a boat carrying hundreds of migrants
sank in waters between Libya and southern Italy, navy officials say. Some 200
others were rescued from the boat, which went down south of the Italian island
of Lampedusa. This comes a day after it emerged that 36 migrants drowned last
week when their boat sank off the Libyan coast.
Libya is used as a departure
point by many African migrants trying to enter the European Union illegally. The
boat sank on Monday about 185 km (115 miles) south of Lampedusa, Italy's Ansa
news agency said. An Italian navy spokesperson said it was not clear how many
people were on board, so the number of missing passengers was unknown, AP news
agency reported.
