10 migrant dead as boat sinks off Italian coast

At least 10 people have been killed after a migrants boat capsized off the Italian coast near the island of Sicily.

In a statement, the Italian coast guard said Wednesday that 121 migrants were rescued in its operation.

The Tuesday mission was the sevenths conducted by the coast guard in less than 24 hours in the Strait of Sicily which, separates the Italian coast from North Africa.

The number of migrants trying to reach Europe illegally has surged over the past months as armed conflicts have intensified in Africa and Middle East. However, hundreds have died despite joint rescue efforts by Italy and a subsidiary agency of the European Union.

Many have criticized the restricted rescue operations with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urging the EU officials to put more effort into saving lives in the wake of the repeated tragedies in the Mediterranean.

The Tuesday incident came after Libyan officials on an oil platform informed the Italian coast guard of the sinking boat. The Italian rescue teams, already carrying hundreds of migrants rescued from other vessels, reached the scene and saved the people. Among those rescued were 30 children and a pregnant woman, who were transferred to a hospital in Italy.

Italian Interior Ministry has released data showing that the number of migrants arriving at the Italian coast in January and February shows a 43 percent increase compared to the previous year. Italian officials have been also critical of the weak EU efforts to save the migrants.

The EU-run mission called Triton took over the search and rescue operations from the Italian officials in November. However, there have been frictions between the Rome and the EU borders agency Frontex over the costs of the operations.

Of the total 218,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean last year, more than 3,500 were killed, according to the UNHCR.

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