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30 feared dead when migrant boat sinks off Libya

By Amy R. Connolly

PALERMO, Italy, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- At least 30 people were feared dead after their rubber boat sank off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration said Friday.

The boat was carrying between 130 and 140 people, mainly from Sudan and Nigeria, when it began to deflate, IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo said on Twitter. The 91 survivors were taken to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, early Friday.

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The fatalities were the latest in the exploding migrant crisis across Europe, many fleeing civil wars and other crises in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Last week, at least 150 people died in two shipwrecks off the Libyan coast and more than 50 bodies were found in the hull of another boat in a separate incident.

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