20 June, 2017
A Spanish navy ship was dispatched to help two migrant boats struggling to stay afloat near Libya on Saturday afternoon, and at sundown it found three other rubber dinghies transporting migrants in the area, Spain's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
More than 125 migrants are feared dead after a migrant boat sank in the mediterranean sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
After a few hours at sea, they said a group of Libyans caught them up.
"They stole the motor - something which has happened a few times recently - and at that point the boat started to take on water and sank", Di Giacomo said.
The four survivors - two Sudanese and two Nigerian nationals - were picked up by Libyan fisherman who handed them over to another migrant boat making the risky Mediterranean Sea crossing.
"They were in shock, traumatised by what had happened, and exhausted", Di Giacomo said.
Samuel, 25, from Nigeria, waits his turn to leave the Golfo Azzurro rescue vessel as it arrives at the port of Pozzallo, south of Sicily, Italy, with hundreds of migrants aboard, rescued by members of Proactive Open Arms NGO, on Saturday, June 17, 2017. To seek confirmation of their account, authorities interviewed the survivors of the other boat, who confirmed that the fishermen had put the four onto their own vessel.
Arrivals of migrants to Italy are up nearly 18 percent on the same period past year at more than 65,000, Italy's Interior Ministry said last week.
As of June 14, 1,828 people are believed to have died trying to reach Europe, according to IOM figures.
Most of the people attempting the journey originally come to Nigeria, followed by Bangladesh and other sub-Saharan countries.
