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Urgent: At least 25 dead as migrant boat capsizes with hundreds onboard: Italian media

Xinhua, August 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 25 migrants died when their boat capsized off the Libyan coast on Wednesday with hundreds of people onboard, and some 400 have been rescued so far, Italian reports said.

The accident happened when the migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing to Italy moved all together towards the same side of the boat to ask for help when they saw a vessel approaching them, Federico Fossi from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told Rai State television.

Rai said a major rescue operation was underway with several rafts and buoys thrown in the water as many migrants fleeing North African poverty and unrest-stricken nations are unable to swim. Endit