700 migrants feared dead in
Mediterranean shipwreck
A major rescue operation is under way in the
Mediterranean after as many as 700 migrants are feared to have drowned just
outside Libyan waters, in what could prove to be the worst disaster yet
involving migrants being smuggled to Europe.
Italian coastguards have retrieved 28 survivors
so far and about 20 bodies, according to the interior ministry, after the boat
went down overnight about 60 miles (96km) off the Libyan coast and 120 miles (193km)
south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, told the Guardian
that up to 700 may remain in the water, according to numbers supplied by a
survivor. The accident happened after the migrants saw a merchant ship in the
distance and scrambled to attract its attention, over-balancing the fishing
boat in which they were travelling.
Barbara Molinario, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Rome, said: “They wanted
to be rescued. They saw another ship. They were trying to make themselves known
to it.”
If confirmed, Sunday morning’s accident means that at
least 1,500 migrants have died so far in 2015 while on route to Europe – at least 30 times higher than last year’s equivalent
figure, which was itself a record. It comes just days after 400 others drowned last week in a similar incident.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/19/700-migrants-feared-dead-mediterranean-shipwreck-worst-yet
Structure of the Lead：
Who-Libyan migrants
When- April
04, 2015
What-shipwreck
Why- after the migrants
saw a merchant ship in the distance and scrambled to attract its attention,
over-balancing the fishing boat in which they were travelling
Where-Mediterranean
How-not given
Keywords:
1.
migrants: 移民
2.
Mediterranean:
地中海
3.
shipwreck: 船難
4.
drowned: 淹死的
5.
smuggled: 走私
6.
retrieve: 取回
7.
refugee: 難民
8.
merchant: 商人
9.
UNHCR: 聯合國難民署
