A refugee boat carrying 600 people bound for Europe has capsized off the coast of Egypt, killing at least 29 people.
Local officials said 150 of the 600 had been rescued, describing it as one of the largest operation off Egypt’s coast in the Mediterranean refugee crisis so far.
“An illegal migration boat has capsized off the coast of Kafr al-Sheiklh carrying 600 migrants in the largest illegal migration operation through the Kafr al-Sheikh coast so far,” state news agency MENA quoted a local official as saying.
The boat was carrying Egyptian, Syrian, and African migrants, security sources told the Reuters news agency.
The sinking came as world leaders met for a special summit on the refugee crisis in New York.
US President Barack Obama, who called the Leaders Summit on Refugees, said the crisis was “one of the most urgent tests of ourt time”.
“This crisis is a test of our common humanity whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another,” he said. “Those girls being trafficked and tortured, they could be our daughters. That little boy on the beach could be our son or our grandson. We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs.”
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