Immigrant death toll in Europe on the rise

Region prepares formore refugees after over 700 die

CATANIA, Italy — The death toll among migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean into Europe so far in 2015 has reached an estimated 1,727 — more than 30 times last year’s total at this time, the International Office on Migration said Tuesday.

The new calculation from the Geneva- based intergovernment group comes after more than 700 migrants were reported lost this last weekend when the fishing craft ferrying them capsized in the waters between Italy and Libya.

Some estimates put the number killed at more than 800. Many of those who perished were trapped in a lower deck and had no chance to escape, authorities said. Most were believed to be sub- Saharan Africans.

The weekend death toll is the highest reported to date in a single incident and has prompted calls for a new migrant strategy from European leaders. Many expect officials to institute a stepped- up search and rescue effort in the Mediterranean as the spring and summer seasons probably bring a new wave of refugees.

In a statement, the International Office of Migration said that last year’s estimated death total — 3,279 migrants — could be surpassed this year in a matter of weeks.

The doomed craft, which launched from the Libyan coast, is believed to have teetered as passengers on board the rickety vessel shifted at a moment when a cargo ship approached to rescue the migrants, authorities said.

Few migrant boats leaving Libya make it to the Italian coast, officials and monitors say. Instead, the aim of many migrants is to be rescued at sea while aboard smuggling boats and be taken to Italy .

Late Monday, Italian authorities said they had arrested the captain and a crewman of the smuggling ship that carried the more than 700 killed . The two suspects — a Tunisian described as the captain and a Syrian said to have been a crew member — were among the 28 known survivors brought to Italy. The pair are being held in Sicily on suspicion of a number of charges, including multiple counts of murder and people smuggling, authorities said