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UN says 239 migrants die in two shipwrecks off Libya

Storyline:National News, World
Migrants are seen during rescue operation in the Mediterranea Sea October 20, 2016. Yara Nardi/Italian Red Cross press office/Handout via Reuters
Migrants are seen during rescue operation in the Mediterranea Sea October 20, 2016. Yara Nardi/Italian Red Cross press office/Handout via Reuters

At least 239 migrants have died in two shipwrecks off Libya, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Carlotta Sami, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, said the information was confirmed by two survivors brought ashore on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Leonard Doyle, chief spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, said 4,220 lives had now been lost in the Mediterranean so far this year.

Reuters