UN fears at least 700 drowned in Mediterranean over past three days

The United Nations refugee agency fears at least 700 people have drowned over the past few days in a series of shipwrecks off the Libyan coast. Image: Over 700 migrants are feared dead in three Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks south of Italy in the last few days (AAP)

The UNHCR believes as many as 15,000 asylum-seekers and migrants have tried to make the perilous central Mediterranean crossing in a week.