A 15-year-old boy is missing after
the migrant boat he was on board capsized in waters off the
Italian island of Lampedusa overnight.
The boy was part of a group of around 50 Gambians, Guineans,
Malaysians and Senegalese that was picked up by the Italian
Coast Guard.
The seven-metre iron boat tipped over when the migrants rushed
to one side of it when the Coast Guard vessel approached, even
though they had been told not to do so, sources said.
"My brother is missing, where is my brother?," a young man could
be heard shouting at the quay at Lampedusa.
The boat departed from Sfax in Tunisia on Friday, the survivors
said.
A 15-month-old girl was reported missing at sea on Saturday
after the migrant boat she was aboard capsized in the southern
Mediterranean in similar circumstances.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says that 442
migrants were reported missing in the Mediterranean between the
start of the year and March 20, including 367 on the central
Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy.
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