The number of migrants who have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea has reached at least 3,800 so far this year, the UN refugee agency has said.

The UNHCR also confirmed this makes 2016 the deadliest year ever for migrants in the Mediterranean.

It warned on Tuesday that this year's death toll was likely to succeed the 3,771 deaths reported for the whole of last year.

In a tweet, spokesman William Spindler said: "We're receiving more reports of deaths in the Med.

"We can now confirm that at least 3,800 people have died, making 2016 the deadliest ever."


The UN agency said scores of migrants have been drowning each week as the fragile and often overcrowded boats they are in capsize or sink.

We're receiving more reports of deaths in the Med. We can now confirm that at least 3,800 people have died, making 2016 the deadliest ever. — William Spindler (@SpindlerWilliam) 26 October 2016

Earlier, the bodies of 25 migrant men and women had been found in an inflatable dinghy in the southern Mediterranean, a medical charity said.

Around 107 people were rescued from the same raft, said a spokeswoman for Medecins Sans Frontieres.

MSF said its chartered rescue ship, the Bourbon Argos, picked up the survivors from the vessel, 26 nautical miles off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.

June: Navy ship rescues migrants

Michele Telaro, an MSF field coordinator, said: "In the bottom of the boat, 25 victims of suspected fuel inhalation were hidden beneath a mixture of sea water and fuel.

"It took us three hours to retrieve 11 bodies because the mixture of petrol and water is so potent that we just couldn't risk being in the boat for long periods of time. It was horrific."

23 of the rescued people had horrific chemical burns, 7 were so severely injured that they needed to be evacuated to Italy, 2 by helicopter. pic.twitter.com/4vTqJcV5xn — MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) October 26, 2016

The victims were said to have likely have died from suffocation, burns or drowning.

The bodies were retrieved from the toxic mixture over a period of hours, with the help of a team from the German NGO Sea-Watch.

Mid-rescue, the MSF vessel was called away to a separate operation nearby, where crews rescued 139 people aboard another boat.

Around 500 migrants were rescued from overcrowded boats on Tuesday, Italy's coastguard said.

May: HMS Bulwark rescues migrants

Migrants fleeing war and poverty take dangerous trips from Libya to Italy on overcrowded and flimsy boats, hoping to make their way to new lives in Europe.

A deal between the EU and Turkey largely closed off the eastern route earlier this year.

According to the UNHCR, smugglers have been changing their tactics, arranging for thousands of people to make the journey at once.