At least 20 migrants missing in shipwreck in Mediterranean near Italian island of Lampedusa

New deadly shipwreck, less than two days after the one that left 12 dead in the English Channel. At least 20 migrants are missing following the sinking of a boat in the Mediterranean, near the Italian island of Lampedusa, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Italian coastguard said on Wednesday.

“Twenty people are missing in the Mediterranean after a shipwreck on September 1, according to survivors”wrote UNHCR’s Chiara Cardoletti on X. “The seven survivors, welcomed by our team in Lampedusa, are in critical condition. Many of them have lost loved ones.” in the disaster, she said.

The Italian coastguard reported 21 missing people. They announced that they had rescued in the morning, less than 20 km from Lampedusa, “a boat adrift, half submerged in water and about to sink, with seven migrants on board, all men of Syrian nationality”. “The rescued migrants said they had left Libya on September 1 with 28 people on board, including three minors, of whom 21 had reportedly fallen into the water due to bad weather conditions.”the coastguard said in a statement. The latter also indicated that they were continuing the search for the missing persons, including with the help of an aircraft.

In 2023, more than 3,000 migrants were reported missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration. According to figures from the Italian Interior Ministry, arrivals by sea have dropped significantly since the beginning of the year: 43,061 people arrived in Italy between January 1 and September 4, compared to 115,177 in the same period in 2023.