Some 20 to 30 people are feared dead following the sinking of a migrant boat off Libya, an official from a European Union naval mission in the Mediterranean said Thursday.
"A wooden boat went down near the Libyan coast," Rino Gentile, a press officer for the Eunavfor Med Sophia operation, told dpa.
He said about 100 people were aboard and "we estimate that 20-30 are dead." He added that 50 people have been rescued by a Spanish navy vessel.
Marco Di Milla, a spokesman for the Italian coastguard, confirmed news of the shipwreck and said the total number of rescued was 88, but did not confirm any deaths.
He said the coastguard was coordinating a total of about 20 rescues on Thursday, including eight which had been completed, bringing more than 1,000 people to safety.
Migrants protect themselves from the cold with blankets as they wait to arrive in the port of Cagliari, Sardinia, on May 26, 2016 aboard the rescue ship "Aquarius", two day after their rescue off the Libyan coasts. (AFP/Gabriel Bouys)
Via SyndiGate.info
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