At least 90 migrants missing in Mediterranean

At least 90 people are missing and feared dead after two shipwrecks off Italy, raising the estimated death toll among migrants in the Mediterranean this year to at least 5,000 - a new record.

Spokesman Joel Millman of the International Organisation for Migration said 63 people had survived the capsizing of a rubber dinghy, but there were originally



between 120 and 140 people on board.

An estimated 80 people survived another sinking of a rubber dinghy that came to light on Thursday, with another 40 people feared dead.

William Spindler, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' office reported that about 100 people are believed to have died in the recent Mediterranean incidents.