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Survivors of Libyan shipwreck report 7 Syrians dead

Survivors of Libyan shipwreck report 7 Syrians dead

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

The remains of a dinghy is seen partially sank after a rescue operation by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO, at the Mediterranean sea, about 17 miles north of Sabratah, Libya, on Saturday, August 20, 2016. Photo: AP

MILAN:  The UN refugee agency says that survivors of a shipwreck off Libya have reported at least seven people, including three children, died when the small wooden boat carrying 27 people, mostly Syrian refugees, capsized. A Spanish aid group recovered five bodies, including two Syrian girls aged 8 months and 5 years, during the rescue Thursday. UNHCR representative Medea Savary said that survivors arriving in the Sicilian port of Trapani on Saturday reported that a woman and another child also died, but the bodies couldn't be recovered. Survivors said that the boat began taking on water a few hours after departing Libya, and eventually capsized. The Migrant Offshore Aid Station, MOAS, brought the five bodies to Trapani, along with 304 people rescued in recent days.