Refugee boat carrying 600 capsizes off Egypt coast, killing at least 29

Officials say the boat likely sank because it was carrying more people than its limit (Alva White/MSF)

A refugee boat carrying 600 people bound for Europe has capsized off the coast of Egypt, killing at least 29.

Local officials said 150 of the 600 had been rescued, describing it as one of the largest operations off Egypt’s coast in the Mediterranean refugee crisis so far. Of the dead, 18 were men, 10 were women, and one was a child.

“An illegal migration boat has capsized off the coast of Kafr al-Sheikh carrying 600 migrants in the largest illegal migration operation through the Kafr al-Sheikh coast so far,” state news agency MENA quoted a local official as saying.

“Initial information indicates that the boat sank because it was carrying more people than its limit. The boat tilted and the migrants fell into the water,” a senior security official in Beheira province, told Reuters.

The boat was carrying Egyptian, Syrian, and African migrants, security sources said. It was not immediately clear what destination the boat had been trying to reach, but it is believed to be Italy.

The sinking came as world leaders met for a special summit on the refugee crisis in New York.

US President Barack Obama, who called the Leaders Summit on Refugees, said the crisis was “one of the most urgent tests of our time”.

“This crisis is a test of our common humanity – whether we give in to suspicion and fear and build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another,” he said. “Those girls being trafficked and tortured, they could be our daughters. That little boy on the beach could be our son or our grandson. We cannot avert our eyes or turn our backs.”

More than 200,000 people have attempted to cross the Mediterranean from Egypt, Libya and Turkey so far this year, the International Organisation for Migration says.

More than 2,800 deaths were recorded between January and June, versus 1,838 during the same period last year.