Rome (CNN)Muslims who were among migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy in a boat this week threw 12 fellow passengers overboard -- killing them -- because the 12 were Christians, Italian police said Thursday.

　　罗马（美国有线电视新闻网）报道：意大利警方周四说，一艘从利比亚开往意大利的船上，有移民把12名乘客推下海以杀死他们。

　　Italian authorities have arrested 15 people on suspicion of murdering the Christians at sea, police in Palermo, Sicily, said.

　　警方在巴勒莫，西西里岛首府声明：意大利当局已经逮捕了嫌疑犯。

　　Why migrants are dying to get to Italy

　　为什么移民都渴望到达意大利

　　The original group of 105 people left Libya on Tuesday in a rubber boat. Sometime during the trip north across the Mediterranean Sea, the alleged assailants -- Muslims from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal -- threw the 12 overboard, police said.

　　装着大约105人的橡皮船于本周二离开了利比亚。在穿越地中海北上期间，把12名基督徒扔下大海；涉嫌行凶者是科特迪瓦，马里和塞内加尔，警察说。

　　Other people on the voyage told police that they themselves were spared "because they strongly opposed the drowning attempt and formed a human chain," Palermo police said.

　　在航行中的其他人告诉警方，为此他们费了很大力气，巴勒莫警察说。

　　The boat was intercepted by an Italian navy vessel, which transferred the passengers to a Panamanian-flagged ship. That ship docked in Palermo on Wednesday, after which the arrests were made, police said.

　　偷渡船最终被意大利海军船只截获，这是艘挂着巴拿马国旗的船。警方说，该船周三停靠在巴勒莫，之后被捕。

　　'I enter Europe or I die': Desperate migrants rescued this week off Italy

　　“让我进入欧洲或者死”：这一周意大利救了绝望的移民

　　The 12 who died were from Nigeria and Ghana, police said.

　　被杀死的12人都是来自尼日利亚和加纳的移民，警方说。

　　Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe's Mediterranean coast, often aboard vessels poorly equipped for the trip. Many of them attempt the voyage to flee war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

　　每年有成千上万的人从北非经历危险的海上航行来到欧洲地中海沿岸，他们经常乘坐简陋的船只远航。他们中的许多人尝试偷渡以逃离战争和贫穷的非洲和中东地区。

　　More than 10,000 people have arrived on Italian shores from Libya since last weekend alone, according to the Italian coast guard.

　　自上周末，已经有超过10000人已经从利比亚抵达意大利海岸。据意大利海岸警卫队调查。

　　Many die each year while attempting the voyage, often when boats capsized. Last year at least 3,200 died trying to make the trip. Since 2000, according to the International Organization for Migration, almost 22,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean.

　　每年，有许多人死于这个危险的航程，往往整船倾覆。去年，至少有3200人死于偷渡过程。自2000年以来，根据国际移民组织调查，已经有近22000人死于跨越地中海偷渡的过程。

　　The IOM reported Thursday the latest boat to sink in trying to make the journey. Only four people survived from the original 45 on board, bringing the estimated death toll so far this year close to a thousand.

　　周四IOM报道，最新一起偷渡事件中倾覆的小船，幸存者只有四个人，而原来船上有45人，今年的死亡人数估计将到目前为止接近一千。

　　CNN's Hada Messia reported from Rome, and CNN's Livia Borghese reported from Augusta, Sicily. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Ben Wedeman contributed to this report.

　　美国有线电视新闻网的哈达默西亚自罗马报道，和美国有线电视新闻网的Livia贝佳斯发自奥古斯塔的报道，西西里岛。美国有线电视新闻网的杰森汉娜写在亚特兰大。美国有线电视新闻网的本·威得曼促成了这一报告。