After a boat carrying migrants from Libya capsized in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this week, about 20 migrants are believed to still be missing, according to the U.N. refugee agency and Italian coast guard on Wednesday.
The Italian coast guard in a statement explained that the survivors said the boat carrying 28 migrants was caught in severe weather on September 1, causing 21 passengers, including three children, to be thrown into the sea. The coast guard said local officials had spotted the sinking boat around 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of the island.
Rescue operations involving both naval units and aircraft were then quickly dispatched.
Rescue efforts managed to save seven Syrians who were transported to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Chiara Cardoletti, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ representative to Italy, confirmed in a post on the social media platform X that the survivors are in critical condition with many having lost family members during the incident.
“20 people are missing in the Mediterranean according to survivors of a shipwreck that occurred on September 1st. The 7 survivors, welcomed by our team in Lampedusa, are in critical conditions, many have lost family members,” Cardoletti said in the translated post on X.
However, the search for those 20 missing migrants continues as rescue operations remain underway.
Newsweek has reached out to the Italian coast guard via email for comment.
This comes as the Central Mediterranean route has become notorious as one of the deadliest crossings for migrants. Last year alone, the U.N. recorded over 2,500 deaths or disappearances in this stretch of water. So far in 2023, at least 1,047 people have lost their lives attempting the journey, highlighting the grave dangers migrants face as they attempt to cross into other countries.
A Coast Guard aviator observes from the helicopter the Coast Guard ship Visalli during its usual controls to protect the coastal marine environment, pleasure boating, safety and protection of human life at sea and bathing establishments on August 14, 2024, in Catania, Italy. After a boat carrying migrants from Libya capsized in the Mediterranean Sea earlier this week, about 20 migrants are believed to still be missing, according to the U.N. refugee agency and Italian coast guard on Wednesday.
Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images
Meanwhile, this incident is just the latest danger to migrants at sea.
On Tuesday, a boat carrying migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from northern France to Britain capsized as it encountered difficulties off Gris-Nez point between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais. The incident killed 12 people as dozens more people were plunged into dangerous waters, officials reported.
Investigators have confirmed that 10 of the 12 victims were women, and six of the deceased were minors. Many of the victims were believed to be Eritrean, according to French prosecutor Guirec Le Bras. The boat, which sank about 3 miles from the French coast, was also found to be carrying many passengers without life vests.
In addition, on Wednesday despite the fatality of yesterday’s incident, dozens more migrants continued to make the journey at crossing the channel in a crowded inflatable boat, French maritime authorities confirmed.
It comes as more than 12,000 people have reached England in small boats in the first five months of the year, 18 percent more than during the same period last year, according to data published by the U.K.’s Home Office.
In addition, in the past week alone, more than 2,100 migrants have tried to cross the English Channel in small boats, according to the U.K. Home Office. The data includes people found in the channel or on arrival.
At least 30 migrants have died or gone missing while trying to cross to the U.K. this year, according to the International Organization for Migration, not including the latest deaths on Tuesday.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
