Rome - Twenty-one people are feared dead and 72 have been
rescued following migrant rescues in the central Mediterranean, the
SOS Mediterranee aid group said on Tuesday.
The survivors are being taken to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, the
non-governmental organization, which runs a rescue boat with Doctors
Without Borders (MSF), said in a tweet.
Late on Monday, SOS Mediterranee said there was one pregnant woman
and 14 children with no family among the survivors. The organization
said they come mostly from West Africa.
The migrants were first rescued last week by a Cypriot merchant ship,
and handed over to SOS Mediterranee late on Saturday.
Thirty were on a sinking wooden boat, and according to survivors, 21
people died in that shipwreck. "There were five women on board, four
drowned, including a pregnant one. I lost my brother," a Gambian man
was quoted as saying by SOS Mediterranee.
Another 42 jumped out of a dinghy before it was intercepted by the
Libyan coastguard, which has received training and funding from Italy
and the EU to stop migrant departures.
Most migrants are desperate not to be returned to Libya, where they
face widespread abuse and torture. According to SOS Mediterranee, the
Libyan coastguard picked up about 90 people from the dinghy.
The Mediterranean is the world's most dangerous sea migration route.
According to the International Organization for Migration, 421 people
have died or gone missing in its waters since the start of the year.