The migrant disaster off Egypt this week adds to a relentless loss of life in the Mediterranean, where a single catastrophe killed some 800 people in April 2015.
Following are despairing milestones in the ongoing migrant crisis.
More than 10,000 dead in three years
Since 2014, more than 10,000 migrants have died at sea, mainly in the central Mediterranean, according to United Nations refugee agency the UNHCR.
The total includes 3,211 deaths so far this year, 3,771 in 2015 and around 3,500 in 2014.
Meanwhile, more than 300,000 people have made it across the Mediterranean this year, after 970,000 in 2015 and 216,000 in 2014.
September 21, 2016: at least 162 die
Rescuers have so far recovered at least 162 bodies from a September 21 shipwreck off Egypt. Survivors said up to 450 migrants had been on board heading for Italy when it capsized.
June 3, 2016: 320 dead
At least 320 people out of some 650 on board a boat die when it capsizes while trying to reach Crete from the coast of North Africa.
April 20, 2016: 500 dead
Around 500 people die in the south Mediterranean when their boat from Libya sinks, according to the witness accounts of some 40 people who escaped, quoted by the UNHCR.
August 5, 2015: 225 dead
More than 225 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent drown when a fishing boat carrying more than 600 people capsizes off Libya. The tragedy happened when the migrants rushed to one side as an Irish ship drew near to pick them up. Rescuers managed to save 360 people.
April 19, 2015: 800 dead
Up to 800 people mainly from the Gambia, Senegal and Mali feared dead after their crammed fishing boat capsizes in Libyan waters. Just 28 people survive the worst Mediterranean disaster in decades.
April 12, 2015: 400 dead
Up to 400 migrants drown after their vessel capsizes off Libya, according to survivors who reach southern Italy.
February 11, 2015: 300 dead
More than 300 migrants from Africa drown after their overcrowded boats sail from Libya in atrocious weather. Twenty-nine rescued people die of exposure before the Italian coastguard can get them to hospital.
September 10, 2014: 500 dead
Up to 500 migrants drown off Malta after people smugglers ram their boat to force them onto a smaller vessel.
October 3, 2013: 366 dead
At least 366 die when a ship carrying 500 migrants from the Horn of Africa begins to sink and then catches fire off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many people trapped in the hold die from asphyxiation. The tragedy alerts the world to the unfolding humanitarian crisis.
