2012-07-11
Xinhua
A total of 54 people died in the Mediterranean in an failed attempt to reach the Italian shores from Libya, bringing the death toll in such accidents to some 170 so far this year, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

The only person who have miraculously survived the tragedy was quoted by the UNHCR as saying that all other passengers on the same boat died from dehydration during their 15 day trip.

Over half of the deceased were said to have come from Eritrea.

Fishermen found the survivor off the Tunisian coast on Monday night. They alerted the Tunisian Coast Guard who later rescued the man, who was immediately taken to hospital.

He told UNHCR field officer that the boat left from Tripoli in Libya in late June. A day later the boat reached the Italian coast, but high winds forced the boat back to sea. Within a few days the inflatable boat was punctured and air started to leak out.

The survivor said there was no water onboard and people started to die from dehydration within days.

UNHCR said over 1,300 people have arrived in Italy by boat this year from Libya. Another 1,000 people landed in Malta.

The UN humanitarian agency estimated that some 170 people had so far been declared dead or lost at sea attempting to make the journey from Libya to Europe.