Among the migrants heading to Europe on a boat, which sank off the Libyan coast late on Saturday, was a Bangladesh national.
Italian authorities have so far rescued 28 people alive, including a Bangladeshi, according to reports by CNN and the BBC.
Quoting the rescued Bangladeshi, CNN reported many were trapped inside locked doors when the boat packed with hundreds sank in the Mediterranean sea on Sunday.
The identity of the Bangladeshi citizen was not yet known— nor was it confirmed whether there were any more Bangladeshis on the boat.
The rescued Bangladeshi is being treated at a hospital in Italy’s Sicily, according to CNN.
The BBC reported that Italian officials suspect that there were at least 700 people in the 70-feet long vessel.
The boat, carrying migrants to Europe from Africa, sank 70 miles from the Libyan coast, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, as a large merchant ship approached it.
The Italian Coast Guard, which is leading the rescue operation, said that at least 24 bodies had been recovered so far at the shipwreck site.
According to CNN, Italian investigators spoke with the Bangladeshi survivor.
“The Bangladeshi migrant’s description provides new details about what may have happened aboard the ship, which sent out a distress call on the Saturday night after a couple of days at sea”, reads the report in CNN.
Investigators say migrants on the boat moved to one side hoping to be saved, which caused it to sink, sending the desperate crowd into the sea.
Saturday’s incident was the latest in a series of dangerous journeys for hundreds who boarded the boat from Libya hoping to make it to Europe for a better life.
Passengers included people from Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Zambia, Bangladesh and Ghana, according to Italian prosecutors.
Source: Bd news24
