Over a hundred migrants missing after boat sinks off Libyan coast

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Over a hundred migrants missing after boat sinks off Libyan coast

By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Salhi TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A wooden boat carrying up to 200 migrants has sunk just one kilometer (half a mile) off the Libyan coast, the coast guard said on Saturday, and most passengers were feared drowned. The local coast guard said it had no boats of its own and had to commandeer fishing vessels in a rescue attempt after fishermen raised the alarm on Saturday morning. Many head for Italy, and so far in 2014, the total number reaching Italian shores has passed 100,000, the Italian government said this week. Libya is a major departure point for this journey, and human traffickers are exploiting the political chaos and lack of security that has blighted the country since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising in 2011.

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