The crew of an "overloaded by 300 people" boat were arrested on Thursday with charges of human trafficking and involuntary manslaughter. The vessel, designed to hold 150 passengers, departed from Egypt carrying 450 migrants crammed on board. The ship collapsed under the weight of its passengers about 12 nautical miles northeast of Rashid, Egypt on Wednesday afternoon. So far 163 victims have been rescued and 51 bodies have been recovered. The rescue force is largely composed of local fishermen helping out the coast guard. This overcrowded person smuggling attempt is unfortunately only one of hundreds. The UN estimates that 300,000 people have arrived in Europe from the Middle East by sea this year alone and of those attempting to cross, 3,211 of them are believed to be dead. These incidents shine a light on just how bad conditions must be for migrants to attempt to cross over in such a dangerous way.
Chris Buechner
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/middleeast/migrant-boat-capsize-egypt-arrests/index.html
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