IOM: Doubling refugees and immigrants who perished in the Mediterranean compared to the first half of 2016

At least 219 refugees and immigrants believed already drowned in the Mediterranean this year, more than double compared to the same period last year, announced today the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

 After interviews with four survivors of a shipwreck that took place over the weekend, the agency said that almost 180 people feared that were aboard a boat that capsized off the Libyan coast and not 110 as was believed until now.

Consequently has already recorded "a twice as many victims, bringing the total for the year, two weeks after it began, the 219 deaths in the Mediterranean," said IOM spokesman Joel Milman during a press conference in Geneva.

The Italian Coast Guard stated that the vessel was not found and has no way to determine how many people were riding in it. The survivors were taken to Sicily yesterday.

The total number of migrants who died in the Mediterranean the first two weeks of 2016 had risen to 91, according to the IOM.

Executives IOM also consider information where about 25 migrants were lost at sea in an area between Morocco and Spain in recent days, when Milman.