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A total of 28 of the nearly 700 migrants aboard a boat that capsized in the Mediterranean have been rescued and 24 bodies recovered, the Italian coast guard said Sunday. Navy and coast guard ships continue searching for other survivors from the vessel that sailed from Libya and went down near Sicily. The boat carrying the migrants capsized at night, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said, citing information provided by a survivor. The Italian coast guard received a call for help and asked the Portuguese freighter King Jacob, which was near the vessel carrying the migrants, to provide assistance. The migrants "all shifted to the same side of the vessel and caused its sinking" as the freighter neared, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Thousands of migrants have arrived on Italy's shores in recent days, forcing the government to take emergency measures to deal with the crisis. Pope Francis, meanwhile, called on the international community Sunday to "act with decision and promptness" to prevent future tragedies in the Mediterranean. The European Union's interior and foreign relations ministers plan to hold a joint meeting to discuss the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, the European Commission said Sunday. European officials plan to discuss the formulation of a "wide-ranging" strategy to deal with the problem, the commission said. The majority of the migrants taking to sea in an attempt to reach Europe are from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
