MOSCOW, April 20 (Sputnik) — According to earlier reports, about 700 people were aboard the capsized boat. Only 24 migrants have been officially confirmed dead, while another 28 have been rescued.
"There were 950 people aboard, about 40-50 children and 200 women," a Bangladeshi survivor told the prosecutor of Catania, local media said.
The tragedy comes less than a week after a similar incident that claimed the lives of some 400 migrants.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the main routes for migrants fleeing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East and trying to reach Europe.
About 11,000 people have been rescued from shipwrecks in the Strait of Sicily over the last week, according to Italian coastguards.
