According to the United Nations’ refugee agency, up to 500 refugees may have drowned last week when an overcrowded ship sank, reports CNN.
The 41 survivors of “one of the worst tragedies involving refugees and migrants in the last 12 months” are currently being housed at a stadium in Kalamata, Greece.
The survivors told U.N. officials they had been part of a group of between 100 and 200 people that departed last week on a 30-meter boat from a site near Tobruk, Libya.
After sailing for several hours, the smugglers in charge of the boat attempted to transfer the passengers to a larger ship already carrying hundreds of people in overcrowded conditions, the U.N. agency said.
During the transfer, the larger boat capsized and sank, the agency said.
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