OMFG-Italy boat sinking: Dozens of migrants die off Lampedusa

[malaise]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24380247
<snip>
At least 92 people have died after a boat carrying African migrants sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the island's mayor says.

More than 140 have been rescued but hundreds are missing, officials say.

Passengers reportedly threw themselves into the sea as the vessel got into trouble and Italian officials were quoted as saying that dozens of people were still in the water.

Earlier this week, 13 migrants drowned while trying to reach Sicily.
This marked a tragic end to a long journey from the depths of Africa.

Over the years there have been numerous disasters involving migrants off Lampedusa, but seldom on anything like this scale. The island's mayor wept as she took in the scene on the harbour wall.

The boat was believed to have been carrying about 500 people at the time.
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Hundreds died here - just wait for the final count - the trafficking of humans continues

[winter is coming]

1. Damn.

[malaise]

2. What a planet

[Lurker Deluxe]

3. Tragic for sure

But how is it "trafficking of humans"?

[malaise]

4. People make a lot of money trafficking people to Europe

Hundreds still missing
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/lampedusa-boat-sinking-italy-migrants
<snip>
Divers are searching for more bodies from a migrant boat that caught fire and capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, killing at least 111 people. A further 200 are still missing.

The Italian government has declared Friday an official day of mourning, with a minute's silence held in schools.

The sinking, in which at least three children died, has renewed focus on the plight of African migrants making the perilous Meditteranean crossing to Europe, prompting an outcry in Italy and calls for urgent action by the international community

Many more bodies are expected to be recovered following by far the most devastating of what President Giorgio Napolitano called a "succession of true slaughters of innocents" to occur off Italy's coast.

A coastguard official said rescue workers had recovered 111 bodies from the 20m (66ft) boat, which sank about half a mile from shore, and were expected to recover at least a further 100. A total of 155 survivors were rescued. The boat was carrying up to 500 people, mostly Eritreans and Somalis

[morningfog]

5. So incredibly sad.

[B Calm]

6. When I was in the Navy we rescued 3 young men in the middle of the Atlantic.

The boat capsized during a storm. The mast was broken and they were hanging on. Two of the young men joined the US Navy and both asked for their first duty station to be the USS Yosemite.

[malaise]

7. I'm betting that was one of the high moments of your career in the Navy