Boat carrying 600 people capsizes, 29 people killed, 150 rescued

AT least 29 people have drowned after a migrant boat capsized off the Egyptian coast, officials said. The boat was carrying about 600 passengers, of which about 150 have been rescued, state media reported.
The capsize took place off the coast of Kafr al-Sheikh, officials said.
BBC stated that the Wednesday’s incident happened as the head of the European Union’s border agency recently warned that increasing numbers of Europe-bound migrants are using Egypt as a departure point.
A health ministry official quoted by the AFP news agency said that Sudanese and “other African nationalities” were among the dead.
It is not clear where its final destination was, although officials say it was probably going to Italy.
Human rights researchers last month warned of a “devastating” lack of information for families of migrants thought to have drowned in the Mediterranean.
They say more than 6,600 refugees drowned in the Mediterranean in 2015 and the first half of this year.
The International Organisation for Migration in July also released figures suggesting that 2016 could become the worst year to date for migrant deaths.
It said that about 3,000 migrants and refugees lost their lives so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean.
But a report by UK academics warned that most bodies remain unidentifiedand their families are left not knowing if missing relatives are dead or alive.
The EU border agency Frontex in August said that more than 12,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Egypt between January and September, compared to 7,000 over the same period in 2015.
Egyptian people smugglers often old fishing vessels, over-laden with people both below and above deck.