CRI听力:Immigrant Boats Sink off Libyan Coast, Many Feared Dead

There has been another tragedy involving illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

Two boats carrying migrants to Europe have capsized near the Libyan capital, drowning at least 70 people.

A Libyan official says one of the boats was carrying at least 250 migrants but a survivor has said there were only 105 on board.

Other reports say 160 people have drowned.

Ali Sarti is a unit commander of the Libyan Coast Guard.

"Our patrol units were at sea yesterday and they found a broken and damaged boat in the middle of the sea, unfortunately. There were immigrants lying in the boat and they were picked out of the water and rescued."

36 African migrants, including three women - one of them pregnant – have been rescued.

News of the sinking emerged following another tragedy near Malta last week.

In that incident, about 500 migrants are feared dead after their ship was rammed by another boat.

Two Palestinian survivors have told the International Organization for Migration that the boat had been intentionally sunk by traffickers.

This year is on track to become the deadliest ever for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

If the death toll in Malta is confirmed, the IOM estimates that a total of 2,800 migrants have been killed on the sea in 2014.

According to the United Nations, more than 130,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea this year, compared with 80,000 in 2013.