13 dead migrants found on boat in Mediterranean

6:45 p.m.

A Spanish rescue group says it has found 167 migrants alive and 13 dead — including pregnant women and children — in a rubber boat drifting in the Mediterranean sea.

Laura Lanuza, a spokeswoman for Spain’s Proactiva Open Arms aid group, said 121 men, 40 women and six children were among those rescued Tuesday 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the Libyan coastal town of Sabratha.

Separately, a boat from the NGO Save the Children came to the aid of some 90 migrants aboard a small boat, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

Both rescue operations off Libya were coordinated by the Italian coast guard.

More than 2,200 migrants have died trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean so far this year according to the International Organization for Migration.

(THE WASHINGTON POST)