The charity, which picks up calls from migrant vessels in
distress, said on Twitter it had alerted "competent authorities"
and urged them: "Don't waste time: send help immediately!".
The boat left from Libya and is "south of Sicily" in Italy's
search and rescue (SAR) maritime zone, Alarm Phone added. The EU
border force Frontex, which operates spotter flights off the
Italian coast, declined immediate comment.
Italy's migrant sea rescue capabilities have come under scrutiny
following a Feb. 26 shipwreck near the southern region of
Calabria, in which at least 72 migrants died.
Police vessels tried but failed to intercept the migrants'
wooden boat due to adverse weather, and the coast guard, better
equipped to face rough seas, was not immediately activated.
Italy's rightist government responded Thursday with tougher jail
penalties for migrant smugglers and pledges to stop their
illegal boat trips, while opening up legal migration channels.
The announcement has not stopped irregular migrant inflows, with
almost 3,000 people reaching Italy since Wednesday, compared to
around 1,300 for the whole of March last year.
As many as 1,869 migrants from 41 separate boats arrived on the
island of Lampedusa alone on Thursday, the ANSA news agency
said, calling it a record.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Crispian Balmer)
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