GENEVA, (Reuters) – Around 75 African migrants died in the Mediterranean after their stranded boat ran out of food and water, the United Nations said yesterday, quoting the only five survivors of what it called a “shocking tragedy”.
The mainly Eritrean migrants boarded a small boat from Tripoli, Libya for the crossing three weeks ago, and were passed by many vessels which failed to help after it ran out of fuel just three days into the trip, it said.
“A few days later water and food ran out. As thirst and hunger set in, people started dying, one by one, as the boat drifted in the sea,” spokesman Andrej Mahecic of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a news briefing.
