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Hungarian policemen detain a Syrian migrant family after they entered Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, August 28, 2015. Reuters/Bernadett Szabo

With the asylum seeker’s boat capsizing off the Libyan coast, police have arrested three people in Libya who are suspected of being involved in setting off the boat off the country's Mediterranean coast.

On Saturday, security officials confirmed that at least 200 people have been killed after the boat, which was carrying as many as 500 refugees, sank in Zuwara off the Libyan coast. Zuwara is known for being a major launchpad for people smugglers.

According to Reuters, the boat that headed towards Italy carried mostly African migrants and some from Syria, Pakistan, Morocco and Bangladesh. Out of 201 people who were rescued, 147 were brought to the detention centre in Sabratha, west of Tripoli, according to the officials. However, identities of the migrants were withheld on request.

In the recent past, Libya is conflict-stricken and has been dealing with huge influx of refugees. It is believed that people boarding the boats are either trying to flee conflict or persecution or poverty. All the three men arrested are of Libyan origin and are accused of carrying refugees to Italy, said a security official asking not to be named. "They are in their twenties," he said. "We think that more are involved which we are still chasing."

On Thursday, Zuwara residents have protested demanding to arrest the smugglers who are continuously involved in people smuggling mainly because of its proximity to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

According to the United Nation, over 2,000 migrants have died in 2015 for trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea . More than 100,000 others have landed in Italy, whilst another 160,000 have crossed to Greece, BBC reported. A similar incident occurred on Wednesday but with lesser number of deaths. Swedish coast discovered bodies of at least 51 people off the Libyan coast and rescued more than 400 survivors.

Libya has sought help from the European Union to train its navy, which was largely destroyed during the 2011 uprising. However, the cooperation halted in 2014 as the EU boycotted a self-declared government controlling western Libya, reported Reuters.

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