Guardian: Dozens feared dead as migrant boat capsizes in Mediterranean

“The boat may be the same sinking vessel that was detected earlier in the day by Alarm Phone, a group of Europe-based activists who take calls from stricken asylum seekers and refer their coordinates to coastguards.

Alarm Phone took a call at 8.45am CET from a boat of refugees in waters north of Zuwara, reporting that a second boat was sinking nearby, though the group said: “It is difficult for us to know for sure that this is the same shipwreck.” Nevertheless, the group believes those they spoke to were Syrian – the first sign since the start of the EU-Turkey deal that Syrians are beginning to use Libya as springboard to Europe.

An activist with Alarm Phone said: “The guy we were speaking to was Syrian, and he said that most of the people on the boat were Syrians and Iraqis. The people around him were talking in a Syrian dialect, mostly north-eastern Syria. Additionally, we are monitoring Facebook pages in Arabic and we are witnessing lately that there are a lot of people arriving in Libya and willing to go to Europe.””

External Link: Guardian: Dozens feared dead as migrant boat capsizes in Mediterranean

Alarmphone on X

Rescued! Yesterday, 40 people contacted Alarm Phone when in distress in the central Mediterranean. The #Aurora of @Seawatch_intl stabilised the boat until the Italian coastguard arrived, bringing all survivors safely to #Lampedusa!

🔵 Le 50 persone in pericolo in fuga dalla #Libia, segnalate da @alarm_phone nel #Mediterraneo centrale, sono state soccorse dall’unità veloce @MVLouiseMichel e sbarcate al sicuro ieri sera a Porto Empedocle. Ancora una volta è stata la Flotta civile a salvare le loro vite.

Load More