Some 30 migrants are missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya during a rescue attempt by a cargo boat sailing in the area, the Italian coast guard announced on Sunday.
“During the rescue operations, the boat turned over in full transfer of the migrants: 17 people were rescued, but around 30 others are missing”, announced the coast guard.
This weekend, NGOs had reported that a boat carrying 47 people was drifting about a hundred kilometers from the Libyan coast. Rescue organization Alarm Phone, which runs a hotline for migrants in distress, was the first on Sunday to report that migrants had drowned.
Alarm Phone said it alerted the Rome Relief Coordination Center on Saturday of the presence of the boat in distress, as well as the Maltese and Libyan authorities.
A merchant vessel heading for the migrant boat reported difficulty in carrying out a rescue due to bad weather.
Meanwhile, the Libyan authorities, responsible for search and rescue efforts in this area, have reported that they have no boats available and are asking for help from Rome, which has sent three merchant ships that were in the area to the boat, the coast guard said.
“The migrant transfer operations began at first light by one of the four merchant vessels, which had reached the boat in difficulty,” the coast guard said.
After picking up 17 migrants, the ship “Froland” headed for Malta to disembark two migrants in need of urgent medical attention.
Search operations are continuing.