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CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — Prosecutors in Sicily say the exact death toll from the weekend sinking of a boat packed with migrants may never be known. But the U.N.'s refugee agency says more than 800 people are believed to have drowned. That would make it the deadliest disaster of its kind in the Mediterranean.
A spokesman for the agency says survivors put the number of passengers on board the fishing trawler at 850. Fewer than 30 survived.
They include two suspected smugglers, who are already facing possible charges including manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.
Survivors say the wreck was caused when one of the smugglers crashed the boat against a container ship that had responded to a distress call. At that point, they say, the migrants rushed around the overcrowded boat, causing it to tip over and sink. Prosecutors say most on board were unable to escape because they were locked below deck.
Even before the trip, surviving migrants say, they faced harsh conditions. They say they'd been held for as long as 30 days on a farm near where the boat was docked.
The International Organization for Migration says the rate of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean is far higher this year than last year, when a total of 3,279 migrants died.
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173-a-11-(Hinneh (HEE'-neh) Evans, migrant from Ghana, in AP interview)-"no option then"-Hinneh Evans, a migrant from Ghana who's been in Sicily for some time, says when he crossed the Mediterranean, smugglers pointed guns at the passengers so they wouldn't change their minds about boarding the ship. (21 Apr 2015)
<<CUT *173 (04/21/15)££ 00:11 "no option then"
175-a-14-(Tesfalem Araya (tehs-FAH'-lehm ah-RAH'-yah), Eritean refugee and co-founder, the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights, in interview)-"of the country"-Eritrean activist Tesfalem Araya says his fellow countrymen are left with no option but to try to reach Europe in boats that aren't fit for the sea. (21 Apr 2015)
<<CUT *175 (04/21/15)££ 00:14 "of the country"
174-a-07-(Bashir Sunusi (bah-SHEER soo-NOO'-see), 21-year-old migrant from Nigeria, in AP interview)-"tired for waiting"-Bashir Sunusi, a migrant from Nigeria who's staying at a center for asylum seekers in Sicily, says he's been stuck waiting for his paperwork to be processed. (21 Apr 2015)
<<CUT *174 (04/21/15)££ 00:07 "tired for waiting"
APPHOTO MES101: Italian Police officers take in custody Mohamed Mohamed Badawy Ramzy, center, after he was disembarked from the Italian Navy ship "Driade" in Messina's port, Sicily, Italy, Saturday, April 18, 2015. According to Italian authorities Ramzy, who was rescued at sea along with other migrants, is suspected of being of the smugglers involved in the the trafficking of hundredsof people, many of them refugees of war and persecution. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi) (18 Apr 2015)
<<APPHOTO MES101 (04/18/15)££
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