Bodies found off coast of Libya as migrant toll climbs

The bodies of 120 migrantsbelieved to have been trying to reach Italy by boat from Libyahave been found off the Libyan coast over the past 10 days, theInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

"We are getting this information from Libyan authoritiesthat we are collaborating with," said IOM spokesman JoelMillman. The bodies had been discovered near Sabratha and hadnot come from previously known shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

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Mainly African migrants are taking often unseaworthy boatsfrom Libya to Italy, gateway to Europe. Nearly 8,000 wererescued at sea between Friday to Monday on that centralMediterranean route, Millman told a briefing.

It is a longer and more perilous journey than that fromTurkey to Greece, largely shut down since a deal was struckbetween the European Union and Turkey in March, although 174migrants did make it by sea to Greece over the weekend, IOMsaid.

More than 257,000 migrants and refugees have already enteredEurope by sea this year through July 27, and for the thirdstraight year, at least 3,000 others have died, the agency said.

A total of 4,027 migrants or refugees have perishedworldwide so far this year, three-quarters of them in theMediterranean, Millman said.

The figures represents a 35 per cent increase on the globaltoll during the first seven months of 2015, he said.

• Europe's migrant crisis intensifies,again,with more drownings off the coast of Italy