Fleeing war and poverty, refugees heading toward Italy abandoned at sea

HARI SREENIVASAN:

It's one of the deadliest migration routes in the world, refugees fleeing war and poverty in North Africa and the Middle East aboard rickety, overcrowded boats, and then crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. Thousands have died on this journey.

Increasingly, human smugglers are abandoning vessels jammed with migrants before they even reach European shores. It's the second such incident this week alone, a ship carrying hundreds of migrants stranded in the rough waters of the Mediterranean. Shortly before dawn today, Italian officials took control of the Sergei Lavrov-flagged Ezadeen.

FILIPPO MARINI, Spokesman, Italian Coast Guard (through interpreter):

The Coast Guard is working to avoid another tragedy. We called on board immediately when we detected the ship. There were no crew, and one migrant, a woman, took the call. She said: "We are alone. Please help us. We are in danger."

HARI SREENIVASAN:

As many as 450 people, including children and some pregnant women, were on board. Most were believed to be Syrian. Though its exact route is unclear, officials said the cargo ship left from a Turkish port, before it was abandoned by its crew of smugglers, ending up drifting off Italy's southern coast.

The rescue comes just days after Italian authorities took control of another cargo ship after its crew disappeared. The Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M was close to crashing into Italy's coast with hundreds of migrants aboard. The Italian navy, coast guard, and air force patrols last year rescued or intercepted more than 170,000 migrants. The efforts of rescuers are made more complicated when crews abandon the ships.

FILIPPO MARINI (through interpreter):

We are watching this new phenomenon with great attention. We are looking at it, we are studying it, and we are trying to give a correct response. But, for sure, this is very dangerous, because one ship that navigates with nobody at the helm is like a bomb launched against the coastline.

HARI SREENIVASAN:

In a statement today, the U.N.'s refugee agency said the growing trend of migrants undertaking dangerous sea journeys to Europe can — quote — "no longer be ignored."