409 refugees have died in Mediterranean in 2016: Aid group

The International Organisation for Migration says 409 people have died in 2016 trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and refugee crossings in the first six weeks of 2016 are running at nearly ten times the rate of the same period in 2015.

IOM says 76,000 people have reached Europe by sea, nearly 2,000 per day, since January 1. More than three-fourths of the deaths have been on the short eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece — which traditionally has seen far fewer deaths than the much longer central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy.

The IOM statement on Tuesday comes a day after Turkey's coast guard said 35 refugees had died after their boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.

The Turkish government struck a deal with the EU in November to halt the outflow of refugees, in return for three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in financial assistance. The EU on Wednesday finally reached an agreement on how to finance the deal.

Read: Why do refugees risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean sea to Europe?