A boat carrying migrants heading from Libya to Italy sank in the Mediterranean Sea. Hundreds of people died, including children

An operation to rescue migrants from a wrecked ship. File photo (Photo: AP)

A ship carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank in the Mediterranean Sea. According to Reuters , citing survivors, about 400 people were killed. According to those rescued, many children were among the drowned. There was no official confirmation of their death at the time of writing.

In total there were 550 people on the ferry, the Italian coast guard managed to save 150 passengers. The overloaded ferry sank a day after it set sail from Libya. Those rescued were taken on the warship Orion to Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

The BBC, citing a statement from Save the Children, reports that out of a total of 7,000 migrants who crossed the sea over the past few days, about 400 were minors.

Earlier, a representative of the EU border agency Frontex said that illegal people transporters fired on EU ships to prevent the confiscation of their boats. Frontex emphasized that this happened for the second time this year.

“An unprecedented influx of migrants at our borders, and refugees in particular, is unfortunately becoming the norm and we will have to adjust our appropriate response,” said EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos.

Similar incidents occur quite often in the Mediterranean Sea. For example, last Monday, 9 people died when a ship carrying migrants sank 130 km off the coast of Libya.

About 400 migrants died when a ship sank off the coast of Italy.