Hundreds dead as migrant crisis escalates in the Mediterranean Sea

At least 700 migrants attempting to cross from Libya to Europe may have drowned last week after three boats capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Doctors Without Borders said Sunday.

The drownings came as a multinational coalition of ships combed open waters in search of survivors, while humanitarian groups and the UNHCR say the exact death toll may never be confirmed.

Nearly 100 people are missing from one boat that capsized on Wednesday, while a witness who spoke to the Associated Press described a second fishing boat overfilling with water before it sank on Thursday, killing up to an estimated 670 people. A third boat on Friday killed at least 45 people after it went down.

A child holds a doll as he sits in a coach after disembarking from the Italian Navy vessel Vega at the Reggio Calabria harbour, southern Italy, May 29, 2016. Photo By Antonio Parrinello/Reuters

Many of the migrants who reportedly died last week at sea were from Eritrea, while a Sudanese man who commanded one of the boats could face charges. At least three infants were among the dead.

“Some were more shaken than others because they had lost their loved ones,” Raffaele Martino, commander of an Italian navy ship that rescued 135 people, told Reuters on Sunday.

Giovanna Di Benedetto, a spokesperson for the humanitarian group Save the Children, told the Associated Press that this week marks an escalation in the years-long migratory crisis.

“It really looks like that in the last period the situation is really worsening in the last week, if the news is confirmed,” Di Benedetto said.

A woman is helped by medical staff abroad the Italian Navy vessel Vega at the Reggio Calabria harbour, southern Italy, May 29, 2016. Photo By Antonio Parrinello/Reuters

At least 14,000 people have been rescued in the last week as the number of people attempting to migrate to Europe from north Africa has swelled. According to the U.N., nearly 40,000 people have made the crossing this year, mainly to Italy and Greece.

Another 160,000 people, mostly Syrian refugees, have taken to the Mediterranean this year in an attempt to reach Europe as the country’s civil war continues. Some European nations have shut down their borders to staunch the flow of migrants fleeing war, oppression and poverty. In 2015, more than 1 million people migrated to Europe, mostly via the sea.

Tommaso Fabri, of Doctors Without Borders, said European nations need to do more to stem the rash of deaths among migrants and refugees.

“It’s time that Europe had the courage to offer safe alternatives that allow these people to come without putting their own lives or those of their children in danger,” Fabri said.