Story highlights
A large ship reportedly went down between Libya and Italy
The United Nations refugee agency interviewed the 41 survivors -- 40 adults and a 3-year-old child
The survivors, mostly north Africans, were taken to Greece, U.N. says
(CNN) —
As many as 500 migrants may have died when a large ship sank in the Mediterranean last week between Libya and Italy, the United Nations refugee agency said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a U.N. team interviewed survivors of what could be one of the worst tragedies involving refugees and migrants in the last 12 months.
The 41 survivors – 37 men, three women and a 3-year-old child – were rescued by a merchant ship Saturday and taken to Kalamata, Greece.
Those rescued include 23 Somalis, 11 Ethiopians, 6 Egyptians and one person from Sudan, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
The survivors told U.N. officials they had been part of a group of between 100 and 200 people that departed last week on a 30-meter boat from a site near Tobruk, Libya.
After sailing for several hours, the smugglers in charge of the boat attempted to transfer the passengers to a larger ship already carrying hundreds of people in overcrowded conditions, the U.N. agency said.
During the transfer, the larger boat capsized and sank, the agency said.
The 41 survivors include people who had not yet boarded the larger vessel, as well as some who managed to swim back to the smaller boat. They drifted at sea for as long as three days before being rescued, the U.N. said.
UNHCR visited the survivors at a stadium in Kalamata, where they’re being housed by local authorities while they undergo police procedures.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Gregorio Borgia/AP
Migrants wear identification bracelets aboard a Norwegian ship during a search-and-rescue mission off the Libyan coast on Tuesday, September 1. Europe is in the midst of a migration crisis. Desperate men and women, often with children in tow, are fleeing wars and poverty to find a better life on the continent. But their voyages, both on land and on sea, can be dangerous and sometimes deadly.
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PHOTO:
MOHAME BEN KHALIFA/AP
The body of a drowned migrant remains on a shore in Zuwara, Libya. In the last week, two boats carrying hundreds of people capsized near Zuwara, killing at least 84, officials said.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Giannis Papanikos/AP
A migrant shouts at Macedonian police officers while trying to cross Greece's northern border into Macedonia. About 1,500 migrants were waiting to cross the border.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Matthias Schrader/AP
A young girl from Iraq waits for registration with her family outside the main station in Munich, Germany. Hundreds of migrants are arriving every day.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Matthias Schrader/AP
Migrants sit outside the main station in Munich as they wait for their chance to register.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Darko Bandic/AP
A group of refugees continues its journey through Hungary after crossing the Serbian border.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
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Syrian refugees walk across railways tracks next to the Serbian town of Horgos to cross the border and enter Hungary.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Matthias Schrader/AP
Migrants sit in a police bus in Pocking, Germany, after making their way to the country from Austria.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Thibault Camus/AP
Migrants from Afghanistan drink tea at a Paris school where they found shelter.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Markus Schreiber/AP
A migrant sleeps on a sidewalk in Berlin near the reception center for refugees and asylum seekers.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Lionel Cironneau/AP
Migrants walk on a rocky beach in Ventimiglia, Italy, where they set up camp near the French border.
Photos: 24 hours of Europe's migration crisis
PHOTO:
Bela Szandelszky/AP
Refugee children sleep near a railway station in Budapest, Hungary.
