Boat carrying 600 migrants capsizes killing 29 people
A BOAT carrying 600 migrants has capsized, killing at least 29 people off the coast of Egypt.
More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014
Security officials said the boat overturned off the coast of Kafr al-Sheiklh this afternoon.
Rescue workers have saved 150 people from drowning.
Officials said the boat was carrying Egyptian, Syrian, and African migrants.
The boat was the largest illegal migration operation through the Kafr al-Sheikh coast so far
An official told Egyptian state media the boat was the “largest illegal migration operation through the Kafr al-Sheikh coast so far”.
It was not immediately clear where the boat was headed, though some security sources said they believed it was going to Italy.
The incident happened near the Mediterranean port city of Rosetta and comes just months after the EU’s border agency warned growing number of migrants were turning to Egypt as a departure point for their journey.
Hundreds rescued from overcrowded migrant boats in Med
More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014.
More and more people have been trying to cross to Italy from the African coastline in recent months as the weather improves, particularly from Libya, where people-traffickers operate with relative impunity, but also from Egypt.
Some 320 migrants and refugees drowned off the Greek island of Crete in June. Migrants who survived had told authorities their boat set sail from Egypt.
The International Organization for Migration said some 206,400 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean this year.
More than 2,800 deaths have been recorded between January and June this year, against 1,838 during the period last year.