Boat carrying 600 refugees capsizes near Egypt

More than 20 people have drowned after a boat carrying hundreds of refugees capsized off the Egyptian coast on Wednesday.

Rescue teams say at least 150 passengers have been saved but they are looking for more survivors from the incident which took place off the Mediterranean port city of Rosetta.

The incident comes months after the head of the EU's border agency warned that growing numbers of Europe-bound migrants were turning to Egypt as a departure point for the perilous journey.

Smugglers often overload the boats, some of them scarcely seaworthy, with passengers who have paid for the journey.

More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014, according to the UN.

With the closure of the Balkans route popular with migrants seeking to reach northern European countries, as well as an EU deal with Turkey to halt departures, asylum seekers have been turning to other options.

"Egypt is starting to become a departure country," Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri said in an interview with the Funke group of German regional newspapers in June.

"The number of boat crossings from Egypt to Italy has reached 1,000 (so far) this year," he said.