500,000 migrants may try Mediterranean crossing: UK

British authorities have warned that up to 500,000 people could attempt to cross Mediterranean sea in their frenetic efforts to land in European countries. The perilous crossing this summer could jeapardise hundreds of live. Meanwhile, naval vessels from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Germany and other west European countries steamed toward the waters off Libya on Saturday to rescue the latest wave of migrants from people smugglers’ boats. Captain Nick Cooke-Priest, on the UK warship HMS Bulwark, told reporters aboard: “Indications are there that there are 450,000 to 500,000 migrants in north Africa, particularly Libya, who are waiting at the border” for the perilous crossing from the North African countries to Europe this summer. Also aboard the Bulwark, part of a multi-nation patrol and rescue force, was British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon. “We could see hundreds of thousands trying to cross this summer,” Fallon told reporters who asked about the captain's half-million figure, according to AP.