The boat they were traveling in from Libya collapsed in bad weather, leaving 30 people missing and 17 people saved in the central Mediterranean, according to the Italian coast guard.
The European Union’s border agency Frontex was providing aircraft help for the rescue efforts, and two more merchant ships were headed to the area, the coast guard said in a statement on Sunday.
The charity Mediterranea Saving Humanity tweeted earlier on Sunday that various sources said the ship, which was headed for Italy, had capsized around 177 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Benghazi.
Alarm Phone, a different nonprofit organization that answers calls from migrant boats in peril, announced on Twitter that it had first notified authorities on Saturday and stressed the need for an emergency rescue for the boat’s 47 passengers.
The coast guard statement also said that Libyan officials contacted Rome for assistance after an initial commercial ship rescue attempt failed due to adverse weather because they lacked the resources to carry out the rescue.
Rome then asked nearby commercial ships to assist in the rescue operation, pointing out that the capsize happened outside of Italy’s search and rescue jurisdiction.
On Sunday morning, it was reported that a transfer attempt from the migrant boat to the merchant ship “FROLAND” ended in disaster.
Four commerce vessels were remained in the vicinity, according to Luca Casarini, head of mission for Mediterranea, who spoke to Reuters.
Following a tragedy on February 26 near the southern region of Calabria, in which at least 79 people died, Italy’s capacity to rescue refugees and migrants at sea has come under scrutiny.
After receiving harsh criticism for failing to act quickly to save the passengers, the Italian government is now dealing with blowback.
In three different operations off the southern tip of Italy, the coastguard reported on Saturday that more than 1,300 migrants and refugees had been saved, with another 200 being saved off Sicily.
In a tweet posted earlier on Sunday, Alarm Phone noted the presence of three merchant ships, but added that it was unsure whether a rescue effort was underway because it had lost communication with the boat.
A earlier tweet from Alarm Phone said one of the warships, the Basilis L, was watching the boat while it awaited the arrival of the Libyan coastguard, “to force the people back to Libya where they had tried to escape from”.
German Organization SeaWatch tweeted on Saturday that its surveillance plane had observed the dangerously crowded and choppy migrant boat.
The rescue coordination center in Rome had instructed a nearby “commercial vessel to coordinate with the Libyan coastguard,” it claimed.
While the weather is deteriorating and making intervention challenging on Saturday, Tripoli claims it is unable to send a patrol boat, SeaWatch tweeted again around two hours later.
The Italian government has organized a rescue here frequently in the past. To prevent further deaths, we request that the same be done.
