Sight of rescuers 'led to capsize' of boat with 400 migrants

Milan: The excitement caused at the 'sight of the rescuers' led to the boat capsize in which about 400 migrants are feared to have died, survivors said as per BBC.

BBC reports that survivors told officials that the boat capsized when many migrants moved to one side as a rescue ship approached.

The UN refugee agency says the shipwreck in the Mediterranean this week, in which 400 migrants are presumed to have died, is among the deadliest single incidents in the last decade.

UNHCR Italy spokeswoman Barbara Molinario says 900 migrants have died or gone missing at sea so far this year, part of a phenomenon the agency has been tracking since 2011.

In most cases, no bodies are found and the deaths are presumed based on survivor accounts or, when no boats are recovered, reports by family members whose loved ones never arrive in Europe.

The UNHCR estimates 3,500 migrants died in the Mediterranean last year, up from 600 in 2013.

(With agency inputs)