More than 400 people, many of whom Ethiopians, feared dead in the Mediterranean ESAT News (April 18, 2016)

Several media outlets reported that over 400 people have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday after their boats capsized.

The refugees from Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea were travelling from Egypt to Italy when the accident took their lives. Most of the dead were Ethiopians.

Awel Abdulwahib, an Ethiopian who have lost four family members told ESAT on the phone from Egypt that the deceased had left Ethiopia following crackdown by government forces on protesters in the Oromia region.

Having heard the bad news, Ethiopians in Egypt have gathered to mourn the dead in keeping with the Ethiopian tradition.

Over 200 of the 400 drowned are said to be Ethiopians, who, according to Awel, have left Ethiopia to save their lives from the brutal crackdown by security forces on protesters in the Oromia region. They were mostly from Bale, Dire Dawa and Harar regions of Ethiopia.

A similar accident last year took the lives of 800 refugees as they tried to reach the European shores over the Mediterranean sea.