150 boat migrants die off Tunisia

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3 June 2011 Last updated at 08:20 ET

The bodies of some 150 migrants have been found off Tunisia’s coast after a Europe-bound boat capsized, UN and Red Cross officials say.

An operation to rescue passengers began off the Tunisian Kerkennah islands on Wednesday.

According to Tunisia’s Tap state news agency, 570 people were rescued, but up to 270 went missing in the stampede to get off the boat.

The migrants were on a boat bound from Libya for Italy.

The passengers – mostly from West Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh – had set sail from Libya’s capital Tripoli on Saturday afternoon.

According to survivors interviewed by the UN refugee agency, the boat was manned by people with little or no maritime experience.

It ran into difficulty soon after departure and experienced problems with its steering and power.

By the third day of the journey the passengers ran out of food and water and the boat then ran aground near the Kerkennah islands, some 300km (about 185 miles) north-west of Tripoli.

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150 boat migrants die off Tunisia