After SOS Méditerranée received an emergency report on Wednesday morning, three merchant ships and rescue ship Ocean Viking were used to search for the migrant boat. The French aid organization speaks of very rough conditions with waves up to six meters high.
“Since arriving on the scene today, we have not found any survivors, while we could see at least ten bodies near the wreck,” the rescue coordinator said in a statement Thursday evening. “We are devastated.”
Dangerous crossing
Many migrants try to reach Europe across the Mediterranean from Libya in North Africa. This crossing is dangerous and often goes wrong, partly because the boats are often rickety and overcrowded. Wednesday’s shipwreck involved a dinghy, says SOS Méditerranée.
UN refugee agency UNHCR and IOM reported last week that by that time in 2021, about 290 migrants had died in the Central Mediterranean.
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