Boat carrying illegal migrants sinks west of Alexandria, 12 die

At least 12 people drowned and around 116 rescued on Friday when a boat carrying illegal migrants capsized off the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria, a security source said. The survivors include 40 Syrians, 72 Palestinians and 4 Egyptians, the source said. Navy vessels are still searching for survivors and bodies, the source added. A rising wave of illegal immigration, involving mainly Syrians and Palestinians, has swept Egypt in recent months. Most would-be migrants hope to reach Europe, where living conditions are better than in crisis-hit Egypt, which has been wracked by political turmoil since the July 3 ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi. The Egyptian Coast Guard has managed to arrest a large number of people attempting to make the illegal voyage to Europe. A boat recently sank off the Italian coast, ending the lives of around 100 Syrian refugees on board. Another boat carrying illegal immigrants sank in Mediterranean A boat carrying around 250 illegal immigrants reportedly sank in the region called Sicily Channel in Malta territorial waters in the Mediterranean. It was reported that after the boat carrying 518 illegal immigrants overturned in the Sicily Channel, a place where the illegal migration traffic from Africa to Europe is quite dense, another boat carrying around 250 illegal immigrants sank in the same region. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, it was reported that the boat was overturned in Malta territorial waters. It was also reported that the boat was identified by a plane before it sank. Italian and Malta naval forces initiated rescue operation in the region. The death toll has not been recorded yet but it is reported that there are dead people. On the other hand, the death toll after a boat sank close to Lampedusa island recently rose to 312.