ROME: Twenty migrants were missing after their vessel sank in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, a senior official with the UN refugee agency reported on Wednesday.
The UNHCR official for Italy, Chiara Cardoletti, posted on X that 20 people were reported missing in the Mediterranean after a shipwreck on September 1.
“The seven survivors, taken in by our team on Lampedusa, are in a critical condition,” Cardoletti said, adding that several of them had lost loved ones in the disaster. Some Italian media reports put the number of missing at 21, including three children.
The survivors, Syrians, were rescued by the Italian coastguard. The coastguard has not responded to requests for information from AFP.
In 2023, more than 3,000 migrants were reported missing after having attempted the perilous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
