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Rights groups lashed out at the EU on Wednesday for scrapping rescue operations in the Mediterranean, saying it had endangered the lives of thousands of desperate migrants making perilous journeys across the sea.

Up to 400 illegal migrants died after their vessel capsized off the Libyan coast on Sunday (12 April), said survivors who were brought to Italy, where tension is mounting over a surge in boat arrivals from North Africa.

BREAKING: If the reports of two survivors prove to be true, 500 migrants from North Africa have been deliberately killed by human traffickers, who sank their boat following a dispute. If confirmed, this is the worst incident of its kind, amounting to mass murder, an official of the International Organization for Migration told EURACTIV.