Shipwreck in the Mediterranean: The body of a pregnant woman, recovered near Lampedusa / Dozens of migrants leaving Libya are missing
April 26, 2025, New York / Libya: The Deputy Coordinator for Search and Rescue (SAR) at the radio control desk on the deck of the Ocean Viking during a patrol near Lampedusa, Italy. Photo: Javier Alvarez / Zuma Press / Profimedia
A boat carrying about 35 migrants from Libya capsized in the central Mediterranean Sea, leaving one confirmed dead and dozens of people missing, UNICEF's Italy coordinator said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
The rescue operation took place on Friday, off the island of Lampedusa, and was carried out by the Italian Coast Guard, which managed to save 11 migrants, including four unaccompanied children, and recovered the lifeless body of a pregnant woman, UNICEF representative Nicola Dell'Arciprete said.
The survivors and the dead body were brought to Lampedusa, while the rest of the passengers are still missing.
The boat capsized after two days at sea, Dell'Arciprete said.
More than 32,700 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from 2014 to date, and about one in five were children, according to data from UN agencies, the UNICEF representative also said.
Commenting on the news of the shipwreck on Platform X, Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the UN's International Organization for Migration, said at least 916 migrants had died in the central Mediterranean area in 2025 alone.
