Some 30 migrants missing after shipwreck off Libya

Some 30 migrants are missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, during the rescue attempt by a cargo boat sailing in the area, the Italian coastguard announced on Sunday.&nbsp ;

“During the rescue operations, the boat turned over in full transfer of migrants: 17 people were rescued, but around 30 others are missing”, announced the coast guard.

This week At the end, 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 report that migrants had drowned.

Alarm Phone said it alerted the Rome Relief Coordination Center on Saturday to the presence of the boat in distress, as well as the Maltese and Libyan authorities.

A merchant ship heading towards the migrant boat reported difficulties carrying out a rescue due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, Libyan authorities, responsible for search and rescue efforts in the area, reported having no boats available and ask for help from Rome, which sent three merchant ships that were in the area to the boat, the coastguard said.

“The migrant transfer operations began at first light of the day by one of the four merchant ships, which had reached the boat in difficulty,” the coast guard said.

After picking up 17 migrants, the ship “Froland” headed to Malta to disembark two migrants in need of urgent medical attention.

>

Search operations are continuing.