A boat carrying hundreds of migrants from Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, and Somalia capsized off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday. Dozens drowned in the accident and an untold number may still be missing, depending on how many were on board.
According to CNN, four crew members including the owner of the vessel were arrested Thursday, possibly on charges of human trafficking and involuntary manslaughter. An estimated 450 migrants were on board, although other sources put that number as low as 205 or as high as 600.
Security forces said there were almost 600 on board the ship before it sank, while a witness on board reported that only 250 were on board the migrant boat, Reuters reported.
As of Thursday afternoon, 52 have been confirmed dead and another 169 have been rescued. If the higher numbers were correct, several hundred migrants remain missing and may have perished in the sinking, which occurred due to the wooden boat being overloaded.
While officials aren’t sure where the boat was headed, they believed it may have been going to Italy. An increase in migrants to Italy from African countries has taken place over the summer. Some in Egypt and other nations believe stronger laws are needed to deter smugglers who are capitalizing on people’s despair over a lack of jobs and opportunities in their native countries, some of which have suffered civil unrest or attacks by ISIS.
An estimated 2,901 people have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean; this represents a 37 percent increase over the same period last year. Another vessel sank in May, killing hundreds of migrants despite rescue attempts by the Italian Navy.
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