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Italian Coast Guard Responds to Sinking of Migrant Boat

The Italian coast guard rescued 28 migrants on April 19 from a capsized boat that was carrying up to 700 migrants when it sank near the Libyan coast. Most of the passengers aboard the overturned 20-metre (70ft) vessel were feared dead, in what the UNHCR said could be the “worst massacre ever seen in the Mediterranean.”

Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, which patrols territorial waters, coordinated a rescue and recovery mission.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said countries should unite to combat the smugglers who organize overcrowded vessels, leaving migrants stranded en route to Europe, and called for an emergency European Union summit on migration. Credit: Guardia di Finanza