Nearly 100 die in boat tragedy in Mediterranean Sea, UN says

A commercial tanker, Alegria 1, rescued four people from a life raft in the Mediterranean early Saturday morning, the Doctors Without Borders charity said, according to SCMP. 

“We know from our initial contact with Alegria 1 that the survivors reported being at sea for at least four days on a boat with nearly 100 people on board,” the charity, which goes by its French acronym MSF, said in a tweet.

According to a transcript of the logbook of exchanges with the tanker, seen by AFP, the tanker said, “around 96 people died in the water.”

The UN refugee chief reacted to the news Sunday, tweeting, “More than 90 people have died in another Mediterranean tragedy.”

MP/PR