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The Italian coast guard said it received a cooperation request
from the Maltese search and rescue (SAR) authority after the
boat capsized approximately 30 miles (50 km) southeast of the
island of Lampedusa on Wednesday .
The coast guard said it dispatched its own patrol boat to the
scene, which "rescued 22 survivors and recovered 9 deceased
individuals, including a baby".
The rescue operations "were particularly challenging due to
adverse weather and sea conditions in the area with waves up to
2.50 metres," the coast guard said.
The nationality of the boat's passengers was not known but
Lampedusa, which sits in the Mediterranean between Tunisia,
Malta and the larger Italian island of Sicily, is the first port
of call for many migrants seeking to reach the European Union.
"New terrible shipwreck near Lampedusa during a rescue
operation", UNHCR Communication Officer Filippo Ungaro posted on
X late on Wednesday. The survivors, taken to Lampedusa, were "in
a state of hypothermia and shock," he added.
An aircraft from the Italian coast guard was conducting aerial
searches for the missing in the area of the shipwreck.
In a separate operation, the Italian coast guard said it rescued
37 migrants "who were at the mercy of the waves aboard a small
wooden boat about 7 meters long" off the coast of Lampedusa on
Wednesday.
(Francesca Piscioneri, editing by Miral Fahmy)
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