Hundreds of people are believed dead after a boat carrying four-hundred-50 migrants capsized off the coast of Egypt.
The tragedy comes as a growing number of migrants are turning to Egypt as a departure point... to get to Europe.
Park Jong-hong has this report.
A day after the shipwreck, rescue workers are pulling up bodies,... not survivors.
169 people were rescued from the Mediterranean but hundreds more might have perished at sea.
Sources say the boat was carrying almost 600 migrants fleeing Egypt for Europe, probably Italy, with the help of smugglers who reportedly added dozens more passengers before setting off.
Overloading is believed to have caused the boat to sink.
Egyptian police have detained four crewmembers ahead of an investigation.
Officials say the boat was carrying not only Egyptian but also Sudanese, Eritrean and Somali migrants.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail pledged the government will make every effort for the rescue mission and added those responsible must be brought to justice.
In previous months, an increasing number of people have been trying to reach Italy from the African coast especially Libya where people-traffickers are thriving.
But Egypt has come under scrutiny as more and more migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are using it as an alternative route.
The survivors cited a lack of jobs, low incomes and political repression in Egypt as their reasons for fleeing the region.
Park Jong-hong, Arirang News.
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