Lampedusa a 'tragedy' for Europe: up to 350 feared dead

[Ron]

Up to 350 people were feared to have died on Thursday after a boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank off the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, in what Italy called a "tragedy" for Europe.

 The accident happened when a fire broke out on board a boat packed with an estimated 500 Eritrean and Somali refugees as it neared the end of its journey from the Libyan coast and approached Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost scrap of territory.

The boat's engine stopped working and it began to take on water, prompting some of the passengers to burn a sheet in order to summon help from the island.

But that started a fire on board and terrified migrants rushed to one side of the 65ft-long boat, causing it to capsize about half a nautical mile off the coast.

The Italian coast guard managed to rescue about 155 people but another 220 were still missing.

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