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Reuters
GENEVA
At least 240 migrants have drowned off the coast of Libya within the last 48 hours, possibly as an unintended consequence of European efforts to stop people-smugglers and to train Libyan coastguards, the UN's migration agency said on Thursday.
Five rescue ships, coordinated by the Italian coastguard, were within sight of the migrants but, despite attempts to rescue them, most died, the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) chief spokesman, Leonard Doyle, said.
"Two rubber dinghies, which is what they are, rubber dinghies, packed with migrants, totalling over 300 we think in all ... have succumbed to the waves off Libya in very bad weather,"he said.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said he was"deeply saddened by another tragedy", and many lives could be saved if European countries volunteered to take in more refugees rather than leaving them to make the risky boat trip.
Migrant arrivals in Italy surged to 27,388 in October, more than the two previous Octobers combined, and bringing this year's total to more than 158,000, IOM's Italy spokesman, Flavio di Giacomo, said. page 10
