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Over 160 migrants feared drowned off Libyan coast

Over 160 migrants were feared to have drowned after their boat sank off the Libyan coast, the Al-Wasat news site reported Monday quoting a naval commander.

Some 36 people had been rescued, including a pregnant woman, and had been taken to hospital, navy spokesman Captain Ayyub Qasim told Al-Wasat.

Naval forces had headed to a location ten miles out from the western coastal town of Tajoura after fishermen reported seeing large numbers of bodies in the water, Qasim said.

Italian authorities on Sunday reported that nearly 1,300 migrants had been rescued in the Mediterranean within a few hours.

In August the UN refugees agency said that nearly 1,900 migrants had drowned while attempting the crossing so far this year.

Some 108,000 migrants had arrived by sea in Italy up to late August, almost triple the number in 2013, the International Organization for Migration has said.

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