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[h=4]Hundreds of migrants feared drowned in Mediterranean[/h]Hundreds of migrants were feared dead Sunday after a boat carrying up to 700 people capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Up to 700 migrants are feared dead after the boat carrying them capsized in the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of migrants have lost their lives making the treacherous journey from Africa to Europe in recent years. VPC
A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea on April 18.(Photo: Giovanni Isolino, AFP/Getty Images)
Hundreds of migrants were feared dead Sunday after a boat carrying up to 700 people capsized north of Libya, raising fears it could be the deadliest migrant disaster in the Mediterranean Sea.
Only a few dozen people had been rescued in what Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called the "biggest human tragedy of the last few years."
The Italian Coast Guard said the fishing vessel was carrying 500 to 700 people when the incident happened around midnight local time, the BBC reported.
The coast guard said at least 28 people were confirmed dead, but the death toll is expected to rise into the hundreds. Muscat put the number of survivors at 50, and International Organization for Migration spokesman Joel Millman said 49 survived, the Associated Press reported.
Tens of thousands are fleeing chaos in North Africa and the Middle East for Europe. And the growing humanitarian crisis will likely worsen as the weather gets warmer.
The coast guard said the 66-foot boat was reported to be sinking as the King Jacob, a Portuguese-registered merchant ship, approached to attempt a rescue. The ship recovered 28 people before the vessel overturned.
The coast guard said it may have capsized "because its occupants moved to the side closest to the cargo ship," the AP said.
The incident happened about 120 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa, off Libyan waters.
USA TODAY
Police: Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard
Italian vessels, the Maltese Navy and commercial ships are taking part in the rescue operation.
Personnel at work in the operations room of the Italian Coast Guard in Rome, Italy, 19 April 2015 during the coordination of relief efforts after a ship carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off the Libyan coast.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Angelo Carconi, EPA)
Carlotta Sami, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told Italian news channel SkyTG24: "At the moment, we fear that this is a tragedy of really vast proportions," Reuters reported.
Italian Border Police Gen. Antonino Iraso told the news channel that wreckage from the migrants' boat had been seen in the sea.
"They are literally trying to find people alive among the dead floating in the water," said Muscat, whose tiny Mediterranean nation of Malta joined the rescue operations.
Muscat added: "A tragedy is unfolding in the Mediterranean and if the EU and the world continue to close their eyes, they will be judged in the harshest terms as it was judged in the past when it closed its eyes to genocides when the comfortable did nothing," TheTimes of Maltareported.
In an incident last week, 400 migrants were presumed dead after a double-deck boat capsized Monday about 75 miles south of Lampedusa. Thursday, 41 migrants were feared drowned in the Mediterranean and, in a separate incident, Italian police arrested 15 Muslim migrants who survivors said tossed 12 Christians from a boat during a recent attempt to cross the sea.
Speaking in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis urged leaders to "act decisively and quickly to stop these tragedies from recurring," the AFP news agency reported. "These are men and women like us, brothers seeking a better life."
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International U.K., said in a statement: "Yet again we have woken up to reports of another tragedy in the Mediterranean, which could bring the total number of migrants who've drowned just this year to a shocking 1,500.
"This is a Europe-wide crisis that needs a Europe-wide response. How many more will have to drown before EU governments, including the U.K., wake up to their responsibilities to save lives?"
USA TODAY
Presumed drownings of 400 migrants among worst incidents
USA TODAY
Nearly 1,000 migrants rescued off Italy; 10 die
In a statement, the European Commission said it was "deeply chagrined" by the "tragic developments" in the Mediterranean of late.
It said the commission is consulting with member states, European agencies and international organizations to prepare a new European Migration Strategy, to be adopted mid-May.
"What we need is immediate actions to prevent further loss of life as well as a comprehensive approach to managing migration better in all its aspects," the statement said.
Since April 10, more than 8,500 people have been rescued from several dozen boats and rubber dinghies in the Mediterranean, according to the Italian Coast Guard, the UNHCR reported.
Since the beginning of this year, some 31,500 people are known to have made the crossing to Italy and Greece — the two largest countries receiving refugees.
The EU took over Mediterranean patrols after Italy phased out its so-called Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea") operation in November. Mare Nostrum was launched in 2013 after 360 migrants died off the coast of Lampedusa.
The EU's Triton mission patrol operates only a few miles off Italy's coast, while Mare Nostrum patrols took Italian rescue ships up close to Libya's coast, where most of the smuggling operations originate.
At least 3,500 of the 219,000 refugees and migrants — many fleeing conflicts in Africa, Syria and Iraq — who tried to cross the Mediterranean through irregular routes last year died, UNHCR reported.
Contributing: Katharine Lackey
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Citing historic ties and immigration concerns, Italian Ambassador to the U.S. Claudio Bisogniero says Italy stands ready to join international efforts to stabilize Libya. H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY
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