GENEVA (Sputnik) – The latest incident, which pushed the death toll past the tragic mark, occurred last week in the Channel of Sicily when the engine of a boat that was taking hundreds of migrants to Europe overheated, forcing them to use drinking water as a coolant. Fourteen people died of heat exhaustion as a result.
IOM statistics suggest that the Central Mediterranean route, connecting Libya and Italy, is far more dangerous than other sea routes. Some 1,930 migrants have died trying to reach Italy this year, compared to the 60 who lost their lives trying to reach Greece.
The other milestone – of 200,000 migrants saved while trying to make the perilous journey from North Africa across the Mediterranean – is expected to be passed very soon as the summer progresses.
As many as 188,000 undocumented migrants have been rescued so far and this number is steadily rising, as more people flee violence and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.
Migrants from Syria and Afghanistan arrive on an overcrowded dinghy from the Turkish coasts to the Greek island of Lesbos, Monday, July 27, 2015
© AP Photo / Santi Palacios
