As many as 500 immigrants were drowned after their ship was intentionally rammed by another boat operated by human traffickers.  If the claim by two Palestinians who say they survived the disaster is verified, it means that some 700 immigrants were killed in the Mediterranean in the past week.

The Palestinians told the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that the ship had left Damietta, Egypt carrying Middle Easterners and Sudanese hoping to get work or asylum in Italy.  It only made it as far as the waters off of Malta.  Last Wednesday, there was some sort of “violent confrontation” on board, according to IOM spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume, and the traffickers rammed and sunk the vessel.  Only nine people are believed to have survived; the other seven were taken to Crete, where IOM workers will interview them later today.

Word of the disaster comes off of the heels of another sinking off of Libya’s unpatrolled coast over the weekend.  It’s believed up to 200 would-be immigrants from Africa drowned when their rickety boat sank.

The IOM says that more than 2,500 people are now believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean this year.