At least 20 missing as boat sinks off Italy, seven rescued

For illustration

Seven migrants were rescued, but at least 20 are missing after their boat sank en route to Italy from Libya, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa said on Wednesday.

Amongst those saved was an 8-year-old Syrian boy, hoping to join his father who lives in Germany. He was accompanied by his mother on the perilous trip, but she has not been seen since the boat sank on Tuesday.

Survivors, who were brought to Lampedusa, said the missing included five women and three children.

"They didn't make it to shore. Knowing that these poor souls were so close, but couldn't make it is even more heartbreaking," said mayor Filippo Mannino.

The small boat set sail from the Libyan town of Zuwara late on Monday but got into difficulty in the early hours of Tuesday and flipped over. No bodies have yet been retrieved.

The sea migration route between Africa and Europe is one of the most dangerous in the world, with almost 24,500 disappearing or dying in the central Mediterranean since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Most of those deaths occurred on boats that set sail from Libya and Tunisia.

The Italian government has sought to reduce migrant departures, saying this will save lives at sea. In 2024, it recorded some 66,320 migrant landings, compared to 157,651 in 2023 and 105,131 in 2022.

More from International News

  • Russia and Ukraine complete largest prisoner swap

    Russia and Ukraine completed the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each on Sunday, the Russian Defence Ministry and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, in the largest such swap since the war began three years ago.

  • North Korea detains officials over warship accident

    North Korea has detained shipyard officials responsible for a recent major accident during the launch of a new warship, state media said on Sunday.

  • At least 13 killed in Russian air attack on Ukraine

    Russian forces launched a barrage of 367 drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities overnight, including the capital Kyiv, in the largest aerial attack of the war so far, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more, officials said.

  • Russia, Ukraine swap 307 soldiers on second day of POW exchange

    Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 307 of their service personnel on Saturday on the second day of a prisoner exchange that, when completed, is set to be the largest such swap in the three-year war between the two countries. U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested the prisoner swap - which should see 1,000 prisoners released on each side over three days - could herald a new phase in stop-start efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv. Saturday's swap was announced by Russia's defence ministry, and separately by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a post on social

  • Police probe arson attack in France power outage

    French police were investigating a possible arson attack as being the main cause for a power outage which hit the Alpes-Maritimes region in southern France on Saturday, including Cannes which is hosting its world-famous annual film festival.

News