IOM: Mediterranean death toll reaches at least 1000 this week

At least 1,000 people have died or are missing and presumed dead after a string of deadly incidents in the Mediterranean Sea over the past week, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The updated IOM tally was drawn from accounts from survivors who were saved at sea or landed in Italy, The Guardian reported.

The UN said more than 2,500 people had died this year trying to reach Europe by sea – a sharp increase from the same period last year.

William Spindler, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said 2016 was “proving to be particularly deadly”. The toll of more than 2,500 dead compares with 1,855 by this time last year, and 57 in the same period of 2014.

Figures from aid groups and Italian police on Sunday counted at least 700 deaths from three shipwrecks in as many days, but the IOM pointed to other, smaller incidents as well as more precise figures following interviews with survivors.

About 204,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean since January, a figure that has also climbed acutely. The number is more than double the nearly 92,000 who landed on the continent’s shores during the first five months of 2015, according to the IOM.

Source: MENA