More than 240 migrants died or went missing in the Mediterranean this week, humanitarian groups said on Wednesday, as another 580 people were pulled from overcrowded boats. On Monday a rubber boat ripped and flipped over with about 150 on board, U.N. refugee agency spokesman Iosta Ibba quoted some of the 15 survivors as saying when they arrived in Catania on Sicily's east coast, Reuters reported. "The survivors made it by hanging on to the pieces of the boat that stayed afloat," Ibba said. "They were in the water for several hours, some said about 10 hours, before an oil tanker picked them up." On Tuesday, 23 people were brought to safety by another tanker after a rubber dinghy carrying about 122 deflated, said SOS Mediterranee, which operates rescue ship Aquarius. Four bodies were recovered. "We waited in the water, grabbing hold of whatever floated, but most people drowned, including my little brother. He was 15 years old," one survivor in apparent shock told the Aquarius crew. On Wednesday, one body was picked up, the Italian coastguard said, while 580 were brought to safety. Six other bodies were recovered on Monday and Tuesday, and witnesses saw a man drown without being able to recover the body. The sea between Libya and Italy has become the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the death toll surging to more than 4,270 this year compared to 3,777 in 2015, the International Organization for Migration says. "The boats are increasingly unseaworthy, and are always more crowded," said the U.N.'s Ibba. "Many tragedies are also tied to bad weather."
