DHAKA: The number of migrants dying in Mediterranean Sea crossings could hit 30,000 this year if the current rate continues, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says.

The deaths in 2015 so far are 30 times higher than the same period last year, reports the BBC.

The UN believes the sinking of one boat at the weekend claimed over 800 lives, making it the deadliest recorded.

The Tunisian captain of the boat survived and has been accused in Italy of reckless multiple homicide.

Prosecutors there allege Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, steered his heavily overloaded boat into collision with a merchant vessel coming to its rescue.

BDST: 2135 HRS, APR 21, 2015
BD/