Migrant shipwreck: up to 300 missing after boat capsizes in Mediterranean

More than 2,000 migrants are said to have died this year in trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Karl Stagno-Navarra, a journalist based mostly in Valletta, Malta, advised Al Jazeera that an Irish navy vessel confirmed that the boat capsized when the individuals on board rushed to at least one aspect when the LE Niamh acquired near it. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has confirmed that 400 people were rescued from yesterday’s accident, around 15 miles from Libya’s coastline, but the boat is believed to have been carrying close to 600 men, women and children.

“The fact that we were first called to assist this boat and then shortly afterwards sent to another one highlights the severe lack of resources available for rescue operations”, Matias said.

Will Turner, on the MSF ship Phoenix, which was on its way to the scene, told Sky News that the boat had now sunk, adding: “We know that there’s dozens of people who have died, but we do not know the exact number”.

Migrants sit in an inflatable boat alongside the ship MV Phoenix before being transferred to an Italian Coast Guard vessel off the coast of Libya on August 3.

MSF said it initially received a call from Rome’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre about a wooden boat in distress at around 9am but was diverted to carry out a rescue of another vessel.

Surviving migrants are brought aboard Irish and Italian Navy life-boats.

The eastern route is shorter and IOM said that traffickers taking people to Italy tended to use more unseaworthy vessels.

Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney said in a statement he feared that “loss of life is likely to be significant”.

A boat packed with migrants from Africa overturned in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, pitching passengers into the water, the Italian coastguard said. Two of those survivors were said to be alleged smugglers.

Wednesday’s disaster could be the worst in the Mediterranean since 800 migrants were feared drowned off Libya in April.

Earlier this week, European Commission chief Jean-Claude said EU governments had a duty to help migrants trying to reach Europe and not give in to “populist” demands to refuse them entry.

The worldwide Office for Migration (IOM) has warned that the number of migrants attempting to cross the sea is much higher than in the same period previous year. Rubber boats were immediately put into the water to save people as the boat went down.