The mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa announced on Wednesday that seven migrants had been rescued but at least 20 were still missing after a migrant boat sunk en route from Libya to Italy.
Among those rescued was an eight-year-old Syrian boy who had hoped to join his father in Germany. His mother accompanied him on the dangerous journey, but she has not been seen since the boat sank on Tuesday.
Survivors taken to Lampedusa said the missing included five women and three children.
“They didn’t make it to shore. It’s even more heartbreaking to think that these poor souls were so close and couldn’t make it,” Mayor Filippo Mannino said.
The small boat set sail from the Libyan town of Zwara late Monday, but ran into difficulties and capsized early Tuesday morning. The bodies have not yet been recovered.
The maritime migration route between Africa and Europe is one of the world’s most dangerous, with around 24,500 people missing or dead in the central Mediterranean since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Most of the deaths occurred on ships departing from Libya and Tunisia.
The Italian government aims to reduce the number of migrants leaving the country, saying this will save lives at sea. Approximately 66,320 migrants landed in 2024, compared to 157,651 in 2023 and 105,131 in 2022.
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