5,000 migrants drowned in Mediterranean in 2016: UN

Geneva: At least 5,000 boat migrants drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe in 2016,United Nations said on Friday.

The most recent figures, out by the UN’s refugee agency, include 100 deaths reported on Thursday after two rubber dinghies sank off the coast of Italy.

According the International Organisation for Migration,this is the worst annual death toll ever seen.

Just under 3,800 migrants died in the Mediterranean in 2015.

An normal of 14 people are drowning in the Mediterranean every day this year despite the overall number of people making the crossing declining, according to the UN.

UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said the increase in deaths was “alarming” and the smugglers’ practice of sending thousands of migrants off at the same time made it difficult for rescuers of save them all.

Maximum of the migrants have perished on the dangerous crossing from North Africa to Italy after the shorter crossing from Turkey to Greece was closed off earlier this year under a provocative deal between Ankara and the European Union.

Nearly 360,000 migrants entered Europe by sea this year, mostly arriving in Italy and Greece.