Three Sudanese sisters among dead as migrant boat sinks off Libya

A migrant rubber dinghy carrying dozens of people from Libya to Italy overturned in severe seas, leaving three Sudanese sisters aged 9, 11 and 17 dead and dozens more rescued, including pregnant women and children. The vessel had departed from Zuwara, Western Libya, and was described by rescuers as dangerously overcrowded and partially deflated as waves reached up to about 1.5 meters. Italian authorities later evacuated medically urgent cases to the island of Lampedusa, while the search for a missing passenger continued.

Rescue crews aboard the NADIR, a charity vessel operated by RESQSHIP, located the drowning boat in international waters north of Libya after receiving an alert from Alarm Phone. About 65 people were rescued from the sinking craft, among them pregnant women, a seven-month-old baby, and several children. Medical teams evacuated 14 people and their relatives to Lampedusa; the rest of the survivors were brought ashore with the boat’s victims. One person had gone overboard earlier in the crossing and remained missing.

The rescue was perilous. Barbara Satore, a communications coordinator on board, described the conditions as dire: the dinghy was overcrowded and...