15 still missing after migrant boat capsizes off Italy's Lampedusa
At least 15 people are still missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, leaving at least nine dead, the Italian coastguard said on Thursday.
More than 40 people had been aboard the vessel when it capsized in international waters some 30 nautical miles south-east of Lampedusa, according to the coastguard.
Efforts to locate survivors are being hampered by waves up to 2.5 metres high, it said.
According to the coastguard, the boat had departed from the Tunisian city of Sfax.
Despite a heavy swell, a patrol boat was able to take most of the shipwrecked people on board on Wednesday, according to the coastguard.
However, some migrants died of hypothermia on the way to Lampedusa.
According to the report, 23 survivors were counted on arrival on the small Italian island. Several of them required emergency medical treatment.
The exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear. Some of the reports from survivors were contradictory.
According to the authorities, the refugees come from countries such as Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast.
According to the European border protection agency Frontex, more than 150,000 people from Africa made the dangerous journey to Europe via the central Mediterranean route last year.
Traffickers usually charge several thousand euros for the crossing in boats that are often barely seaworthy.
