Cairo — On Oct. 10, at least 10 people reportedly drowned off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast as they tried to reach Italy by boat. Ten bodies were recovered from the water, including four Egyptian teenagers from the Nile Delta, while 10 more bodies may simply have disappeared at sea.
The news may have just announced the tail end of the peak season for irregular migration in the Mediterranean, when deteriorating weather and smugglers conscious of dwindling time put migrants’ lives at added risk.