Rome: Italy and Malta are working to rescue two migrant boats in distress in the Mediterranean, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Monday, after hundreds were feared dead in a shipwreck over the weekend.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the death toll from the weekend's shipwreck would be 900 people if reports were confirmed.
So far, 28 people have been rescued and 24 bodies recovered, and officials had said the total number of people on the boat was around 700.
Renzi said the number of distress calls from migrant boats, often packed with people fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East in search of a better life in Europe, was rising.
One of the two vessels in distress is a rubber boat about 30 miles from the coast of Libya with 100-150 people on board and the other is a larger boat with around 300 on board, Renzi said.
Renzi repeated a call he made over the weekend for an emergency meeting of European Union leaders to address the crisis.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the death toll from the weekend's shipwreck would be 900 people if reports were confirmed.
So far, 28 people have been rescued and 24 bodies recovered, and officials had said the total number of people on the boat was around 700.
One of the two vessels in distress is a rubber boat about 30 miles from the coast of Libya with 100-150 people on board and the other is a larger boat with around 300 on board, Renzi said.
Advertisement
© Thomson Reuters 2015
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Boat Carrying 9 Pilgrims Capsizes In UP's Saryau River, 1 Missing 15 Killed, Dozens Missing In Migrant Wreck As Boat Capsizes In Africa Indians Rescued From Capsized Vessel Near Oman Being Looked After: Minister Tear Gas Fired After Kolkata Protest Against Doctor's Rape-Murder Turns Violent 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court 2 French Rafale Jets Collide Mid-Air, Instructor, Pilot Missing Bangladeshi Students On Alert, To Remain On Streets To Resist Chaos India's 78th Independence Day: A Tribute By Google Doodle "Full Of Negativity...": PM Slams Opposition In Independence Day Speech Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.