Mediterranean migrant crossings top 300,000 in 2015: UN

Migrants are rescued from an overcrowded wooden boat during an operation by aid organisation MSF and Swedish coast guards in the Meditterranean Sea on August 26, 2015

GENEVA - The number of refugees and migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe has soared past 300,000 this year, and some 2,500 more have died trying, the UN said Friday.

Nearly 200,000 people had landed in Greece since January, while another 110,000 had made it to Italy, UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said, compared to some 219,000 last year.