CAIRO: The death toll from a migrant boat disaster off Egypt’s coast climbed to 162 on Friday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the Mediterranean.

Survivors have said up to 450 migrants were on board the overcrowded fishing vessel that was heading to Italy from Egypt when it keeled over off the port city of Rosetta on Wednesday.

“The death toll from the illegal migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Rosetta... has reached 162,” the health ministry said in a statement. Recovery atte­mpts were continuing.

Rescuers had said search operations would focus on the boat’s hold where witnesses said around 100 people had been when the vessel flipped over.

Authorities have arrested four suspected people traffickers over the tragedy, the latest in what the UN refugee agency expects to be the deadliest year on record for the Mediterranean.

The accident comes months after the EU border agency Frontex warned that growing numbers of Europe-bound migrants were using Egypt as a departure point for the dangerous voyage. Traffickers often use barely seaworthy vessels and overload them to extract the maximum money in fares from desperate migrants.

The International Org­ani­­zation for Migration said most of those rescued were Egyptians but also included Sudanese, Eritreans, a Syrian and an Ethiopian.

After Balkan countries closed the popular overland route in March and the EU agreed a deal with Turkey to halt departures, asylum-seekers turned to other ways to reach Europe.

Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said in June that the crossing from Egypt to Italy, which often takes more than 10 days, was becoming increasingly popular.

The UN refugee agency said on Friday that more than 4,600 non-Egyptians, many of them Sudanese and Ethiopians, had been arrested this year trying to depart from Egypt’s northern coast.

More than 10,000 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014, according to the United Nations.

Following are despairing milestones in the ongoing migrant crisis.

June 3, 2016: 320 dead

At least 320 people out of some 650 on board a boat die when it capsizes while trying to reach Crete from the coast of North Africa.

April 20, 2016: 500 dead

Around 500 people die in the south Mediterranean when their boat from Libya sinks, according to the witness accounts of some 40 people who escaped, quoted by the UNHCR.

Aug 5, 2015: 225 dead

More than 225 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent drown when a fishing boat carrying more than 600 people capsizes off Libya.

April 19, 2015: 800 dead

Up to 800 people mainly from the Gambia, Senegal and Mali feared dead after their crammed fishing boat capsizes in Libyan waters.

April 12, 2015: 400 dead

Up to 400 migrants drown after their vessel capsizes off Libya, according to survivors who reach southern Italy.

Feb 11, 2015: 300 dead

More than 300 migrants from Africa drown after their overcrowded boats sail from Libya in atrocious weather.

Sept 10, 2014: 500 dead

Up to 500 migrants drown off Malta after people smugglers ram their boat to force them onto a smaller vessel.

Oct 3, 2013: 366 dead

At least 366 die when a ship carrying 500 migrants from the Horn of Africa begins to sink and then catches fire off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many people trapped in the hold die from asphyxiation.

The tragedy alerts the world to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016