At least 130 people died and hundreds more are missing after a boat carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

Most of those on board were apparently from Eritrea and Somalia. The boat was believed to have been carrying up to 500 people at the time and 200 are unaccounted for.

The ship apparently got into difficulties after its engines stopped working, a fire broke out and the boat capsized.

A spokeswoman from the International Organization for Migration in Rome said most of the migrants were unable to swim; and only the strongest survived.

It was one of the worst such disasters to occur off the Italian coast in recent years. Prime Minister Enrico Letta called it “an immense tragedy” and the Italian government declared Friday (October 4) a day of national mourning.

In a separate incident on Thursday, there were reports that another 200 migrants were escorted to the port of Syracuse in Sicily, when their vessel encountered difficulties five miles off the coast.

The UN says most of those attempting to cross from Libya to Italy are fleeing conflict in Syria or coming from Somalia or Eritrea.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that more than 1,500 people drowned or went missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in 201; and another 500 people were reported dead or missing at sea during 2012.

This year to September 30 the number of those arriving by sea to Italy stood at 30,100, of whom 7,500 were Syrian, 7,500 Eritrean and 3,000 Somali.

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Source: Mfa.gov.et – Oct. 4, 2013, titled “Hundreds of migrants from Africa feared dead off the Italian coast”