Fifteen migrants are missing after their boat sank on Friday, the second shipwreck that day in the Mediterranean, bringing the number of lives lost to nearly 100, the United Nations said on Sunday (May 1).
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Over 80 asylum seekers are missing after a migrant boat sank off the Libyan Coast, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Saturday.
The spokesman said such boats used by human traffickers can hold between 100-120 people and are usually full but no information was available on the number that might be missing.
The vessel was able to pick up 26 people from the boat that was deflating and taking on water and searched in vain for others. “Later on the boat broke in two parts and all passengers fell into the sea”.
26 migrants have been rescued by an Italian ship off the coast of Libya.
Rough seas and waves topping two metres (seven feet) hampered attempts to find any other survivors. “Survivors say they lost relatives and friends during the shipwreck”, she said.
The Coast Guard said it received a call from a satellite phone on Friday, but were unable to speak with the caller.
The migrants rescued were transferred to two coastguard ships in the ocean and taken to nearby Italian land to be treated.
The Red Cross also voiced alarm at Friday’s tragic boat sinkings, warning that more were likely to come.
So far around 27-thousand refugees and other migrants have reached Italy by boat, a lot of them setting out from Libya.
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There have been over 182,830 arrivals by sea in Europe since January 2016, and 1,261 migrants were reported dead or missing, UNHCR said.
