Nearly 130 refugees remain missing in Mediterranean after boat sinks

Four migrants were rescued by Libyan fishermen, IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo said on Twitter.

The four survivors told the IOM that their dinghy left Libya for Italy. After several hours at sea, smugglers approached the craft, stole the engine, then departed. The dinghy drifted and then capsized.

The survivors, two Nigerians and two Sudanese nationals, said the majority of those who drowned were Sudanese.

Most of the refugees on the boat were Nigerian and Sudanese.

The IOM’s Missing Persons Project said the number of deaths of migrants on the Mediterranean Sea in 2017 is approaching 2,000. Nearly 70,000 have been rescued and taken to Italy since the start of the year, a 23% increase compared to the same time last year./.