Another Migrant Boat Capsizes In Italy

At least 27 migrants are reportedly dead after a vessel capsized off the island of Lampedusa, in the latest sinking near Sicily.

Italian Navy vessels like these are assisting at the scene

A rescue operation is under way off Lampedusa

• Email

At least 27 people have reportedly died and 221 people been saved after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean.

Maltese Prime Minister Muscat revealed the number of casualties, while the Italian navy said it had rescued 221 from the water off the island of Lampedusa.

An Italian navy spokesman said naval vessels and helicopters were assisting at the scene, between Malta and Sicily.

The Italian navy and Maltese armed forces rescued survivors

Coastguard spokesman Marco Di Milla said they received a satellite phone call from the boat that was in distress and were able to locate it based on the satellite coordinates.

A Maltese aircraft was sent up and reported that the boat had capsized and that "numerous" people were in the water.

Around 221 people were pulled from the water

The aircraft dropped a life raft, and a patrol boat soon arrived at the scene, according to a statement from the Maltese armed forces.

"There are at least 200 people in the sea and our helicopters are picking them up," an Italian navy spokesman previously said, adding that two ships were on the scene.

It is the second migrant vessel to sink off Lampedusa in just over a week

The incident comes just over a week after a boat carrying African asylum seekers caught fire and sank off Lampedusa, killing up to 350 people.

Residents of the remote southern Italian island have long complained that they have been left alone to deal with the thousands of migrants who come ashore each year from Africa and the Middle East.

Up to 350 people died after another boat caught fire and sank last week

Some 30,000 migrants have flocked to Italy so far this year. An estimated 17,000 to 20,000 have died while crossing the Mediterranean during the past 20 years on overcrowded fishing boats or rubber dinghies, seeking a better life in Europe.

Eritrea, Somalia and Syria are the main countries of origin and the majority of arrivals are on Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost point which is closer to north Africa than to the Italian mainland.

Italian emergency services are trying to rescue at least 200 asylum seekers from the Mediterranean after a boat capsized off the coast of Sicily.