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162 bodies pulled out after refugee boat sinks off Egypt coast

Egyptian policemen and medics stand over a body of an asylum seeker along the shore in the port city of Rosetta on September 21, 2016, during a search operation after a boat carrying refugees capsized in the Mediterranean. (Photo by AFP)

Egyptian rescue workers have pulled out from the Mediterranean Sea the bodies of more than a hundred refugees whose boat recently capsized near the coast of Egypt.

A senior Egyptian official said on Friday that a total of 162 bodies had been pulled out from Egyptian waters. The vessel capsized on Wednesday.

Rescue and recovery operations were still underway, while the military said it had rescued 163 survivors, who are said to be mostly Egyptians, but also include a Syrian, as well as Sudanese, Eritreans, and an Ethiopian asylum seeker.

The survivors said about 450 refugees had been on board the overcrowded fishing boat that was heading toward Italy when it sank about 12 kilometers off the coast.

In this regard, authorities have arrested four suspected human traffickers.

Egyptian policemen and medics stand over a body of a refugee along the shore in the Egyptian port city of Rosetta on September 21, 2016, during a search operation after a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean. (Photo by AFP)

Since 2014, according to the United Nations, more than 10,000 asylum seekers have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe in substandard vessels overloaded with desperate refugees.

The current year has been described by the United Nations as "the deadliest year on record in the Mediterranean Sea."

The perilous sea route across the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Italy, which often takes more than 10 days, is just one of several routes used by asylum seekers.

A young Egyptian lies in bed in a hospital in the port city of Rosetta, northern Egypt, on September 21, 2016, after a boat transporting asylum seekers capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Egypt. (Photo by AFP)

After Balkan countries closed the popular overland route in March and the European Union reached a deal with Turkey to halt departures, asylum seekers from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa have turned to new paths to reach Europe.

Frontex, an EU agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders, said in June that crossing from Egypt to Italy was becoming increasingly popular.


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