Dramas follow one another in the Mediterranean.

Around 30 migrants are missing after a boat sank off Libya on Sunday (March 12th), the Italian coast guard said. 

"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.

The rescue organization Alarm Phone, which runs a hotline for migrants in distress, was the first on Sunday to announce that migrants had drowned.

🆘!

47 lives at risk in the Central Med!



Alarm Phone is contact with 47 people in a boat adrift who fled from #Libya.

Weather is extremely dangerous and immediate rescue is needed!!

pic.twitter.com/w45b5mIzdI

— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) March 11, 2023

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, reported that they had no boats available and asked for help from Rome, which 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 distressed craft,” the coast guard said. 

After boarding 17 migrants, the ship "Froland" headed for Malta to disembark two migrants in need of urgent medical attention.  

Search operations are continuing. 

With AFP

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