The boat sank on September 1 near the Italian island of Lampedusa. The seven survivors told rescuers that 20 people were on board with them.
Twenty migrants are missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean near the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Italian section of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.
“Twenty people are missing in the Mediterranean after a shipwreck on September 1, according to survivors”wrote UNHCR’s Chiara Cardoletti on X. “The seven survivors, welcomed by our team in Lampedusa, are in critical condition. Many of them are said to have lost loved ones.” in the disaster, she said.
Italian media, for their part, reported 21 people missing, including three children. The survivors, Syrians, were rescued by the Italian coastguard. The latter, questioned by AFP, did not immediately respond.
In 2023, more than 3,000 migrants were reported missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to figures from the Italian Interior Ministry, arrivals by sea have dropped significantly since the beginning of the year: 43,061 people arrived in Italy between January 1 and September 4, compared to 115,177 in the same period in 2023.
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