Two rescue charities claim that dozens of people are now in danger in the Mediterranean after a boat carrying migrants from Libya sank in bad weather.
Alarm Phone, which monitors distress calls from migrants crossing to Europe, posted on Twitter Sunday afternoon that a boat carrying 47 people had capsized 110miles (176km) north of Benghazi.
“We are shocked. According to various sources, many people on this boat in distress drowned. The organisation tweeted that they first alerted authorities at 2.28 p.m. CET on March 11th, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Sea-Watch International shared a picture that purports to show the vessel on Twitter.
The charity was in touch with the people aboard the boat, and they said that they were screaming and panicking.
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Mediterranea Saving Humans said another charity had been informed of the ship’s dire condition and was instructing merchant ships to monitor the situation, but not to attempt a rescue.
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Luca Casarini, Mediterranea’s chief of mission, told Reuters that four merchant ships were still in the region.
On Sunday evening, the Italian coastguard stated that 17 people had been rescued from the accident scene while 30 others were still missing. Two of the rescuers will be transported to Malta for urgent medical attention. The rest will be transferred to Italy.
According to the coastguard, the boat was sunk while rescue efforts were underway.
This tragedy is the latest to strike migrants who attempt the dangerous crossing. It follows a shipwreck in the southern region Calabria that saw at least 79 deaths in February.
According to the Italian coastguard, more than 1,300 migrants were rescued in recent operations off the southern tip Italy. Another 200 were saved off Sicily.
A politician from Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni’s party claimed that nearly 700,000.00 migrants were in Libya, waiting to sail for Italy.
Tommaso Foti of Brothers of Italy stated that Tgcom24, a television channel, had reported that the Italian secret service had estimated that 680,000 migrants were in detention and planning to use people smugglers for crossing the ocean.
In 2022, approximately 105,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea.
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