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Over 70 Missing After Migrant Boat Sinks in Central Mediterranean

NGOs say the wreck reflects dangerous crossings left to Libya’s rescue zone.

Overview

  • The wooden boat, which left Tajoura, Libya, on Saturday afternoon, capsized in the central Mediterranean with more than 70 people missing and two confirmed dead.
  • Thirty-two survivors were rescued by two merchant ships and disembarked on the Italian island of Lampedusa on Sunday, according to Sea-Watch.
  • Sea-Watch released video from its Seabird 2 aircraft showing people clinging to the overturned hull and bodies visible in the water.
  • Mediterranea Saving Humans reported that the sinking occurred in a search-and-rescue area overseen by Libyan authorities, where merchant vessels carried out the rescue.
  • The International Organization for Migration lists 683 people dead or missing on this route so far in 2026, and Italy reports 6,175 arrivals, figures that NGOs cite in urging safe, legal pathways.