At least 29 drown as migrant boat capsizes off Egypt

At least 29 people have drowned after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Egyptian coast on Wednesday, two Health Ministry officials told AFP, raising an earlier toll.

“The toll now is 29 dead and five injured,” said Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed.

Another health ministry official, Adel Khalifa, confirmed the toll and said the dead included Egyptians and Sudanese and “other African nationalities.”

Health Ministry official Alaa Osman from Beheira province says that 155 people have been rescued, but that bodies are still being found in the area, AP reported.

Egypt’s official news agency MENA said the boat had been carrying 600 people.

It capsized off the Mediterranean port city of Rosetta, according to police officials. Rosetta lies 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Alexandria.

Tens of thousands of Africans take the dangerous Mediterranean Sea route as a gateway to a better life in Europe, alongside those fleeing wars from Syria to Afghanistan.

Smugglers often overload the boats, some of them scarcely seaworthy, with passengers who have paid for the journey.

The incident comes months after the head of the EU’s border agency warned that growing numbers of Europe-bound migrants were turning to Egypt as a departure point for the perilous journey.

At the end of August, Italian naval ships and vessels from non-government groups plucked 6,500 refugees from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya.

In boats too weak and technically unequipped for a voyage across the stretch of the Mediterranean to the shores of Italy, the migrants had set off with a bit of gasoline in the overcrowded vessels, hoping to make it at least 15-20 miles out to sea and reach awaiting rescuers.

More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014, according to the UN.