Hundreds Missing in Shipwreck off Libya

Illegal workers were heading to Italy
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 31, 2009 3:50 AM CDT
Hundreds Missing in Shipwreck off Libya
A boat loaded with illegal immigrants motors off Lampedusa, Italy, in this file photo. Libyan authorities say two boats packed with Europe-bound migrants have sunk and hundreds of people are missing.   (Getty Images)

Hundreds of people are missing and feared dead after at least one boat packed with illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Libya, the BBC reports. Libyan officials say they managed to rescue 23 people after a vessel carrying 250 Europe-bound migrants sank. Another boat carrying 342 passengers is still missing. Many of the migrants are believed to be from Egypt.
(More Libya stories.)

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