Dutch ship rescues nearly 200 migrants in Mediterranean

By Reuters/Anthony Deutsch June 15, 2016 | 05:08 am PT

A Dutch marine ship in the EU border agency Frontex rescued nearly 200 migrants on a sinking ship in the Mediterranean, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Among those onboard were 16 children and two pregnant women, the ministry said in a statement.

The Dutch responded to a distress signal from the vessel, which was on the verge of capsizing. It was a week into a crossing from Egypt to Sicily. The migrants were given food, water and medical care, it said.

The Netherlands has contributed a ship, aircraft and marines to Frontex, which is responding to an unprecedented number of migrants arriving in southern Europe.

Between Jan. 1 and June 5 this year, more than 2,800 deaths were recorded in the whole of the Mediterranean, the vast majority on the central Mediterranean route from North Africa, compared with 3,770 in 2015, said UNICEF.

> Greek coastguard rescues migrants in sinking off Crete

> Migrant crisis fuels sex trafficking of Nigerian girls to Europe