Alarm Phone said it received a distress call from the boat, which had set sail from Tobruk, Libya, overnight and had notified the authorities. But it added that no rescue operation had been launched so far.
The boat is believed to be carrying people in distress. Photo: Sea-Watch International
Alarm Phone said the boat is currently in Malta's Search and Rescue (SAR) area. German NGO Sea-Watch International said it had seen the boat along with two merchant ships nearby.
Alarm Phone said the people on board were in a panic, some of them needing medical attention. The ship was out of fuel and the lower deck was filling with water, while the captain had left and there was no one to control the ship.
Another NGO, German-based Resqship, said on Sunday that at least 23 migrants died overnight in the Mediterranean in another shipwreck.
The organization added that it found 25 people at sea in another rescue operation and had recovered 22 survivors and two bodies, although about 20 others were reported to have drowned.
Last week, 440 migrants were rescued off Malta after a complex 11-hour operation in stormy seas by the Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ship Geo Barents.
At least 23 African migrants were missing and four died in separate incidents on Saturday after two boats sank off Tunisia as they tried to reach Italy.
Bui Huy (according to Sky News, Reuters)
Source
Comment (0)