A tragic incident occurred off the coast of Libya, where 20 people went missing after falling into rough seas when their small boat capsized. The vessel, which had been carrying 27 passengers, was about 20 miles from Libya’s coastline when it began taking on water, according to survivors.
The six-meter-long boat had departed from Zuwara, Libya, at 10:00 PM on Monday. Despite the rough seas, seven survivors managed to continue the journey aboard the sinking boat until they were rescued by an Italian police patrol boat on Tuesday evening near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
Initial reports suggested the boat had overturned near Lampedusa, prompting a search-and-rescue operation throughout the night by the Italian police and coast guard in the southwest waters off the island. However, statements from six adult survivors, as reported by the Italian press, indicated that the boat began taking on water about five hours after leaving Libya, causing it to list. The resulting panic led to 20 passengers falling into the sea.
Witnesses, including two individuals from Syria, two from Egypt, and two from Sudan, said that among those who fell into the sea were five women and three children. They described the sea conditions as turbulent, with strong winds. An eight-year-old boy from Syria was also among the survivors. All seven survivors were taken to Porto Empedocle in Sicily.
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, Italian authorities have since suspended the search efforts and reported the incident to their Libyan and Maltese counterparts.
In a separate incident on Monday, two people, including a five-year-old child, were confirmed dead, and 17 survived when their boat broke down off Tunisia’s northern coast during a failed attempt to reach Europe. Alarm Phone, a nonprofit that operates a hotline for people in distress at sea, reported that three boats have capsized near Tunisia since Tuesday.
