40 migrants die in sea crossing

Around 40 migrants died in the Mediterranean on Sunday, according to survivors of the journey who arrived on the southern Italian island of Sicily, local Save the Children spokeswoman Giovanna Di Benedetto said.

The deaths were reported by some of the roughly 240 migrants from Ghana, Gambia, Senegal, and Ivory Coast who arrived in Catania.

A Maltese merchant ship rescued the migrants from two rubber boats on which they had set off from Libya, where lawlessness has been exploited by traffickers who can charge thousands of dollars to people looking for a better life in Europe.