A boat carrying more than 30 migrants capsized during a rescue operation off Malta. Five migrants were confirmed dead and eight people were injured, according to the Maltese armed forces.
The boat was carrying at least 34 people when it capsized within the confines of an offshore fish farm, roughly 3.5 nautical miles off Malta's southern coast, news agency dpa reported. The passengers are believed to have come from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Syria.
The Times of Malta reported that the boat had left Tripoli, Libya, three days prior to the incident, which occurred Friday morning (February 23).
According to Edric Zahra, deputy commander of the armed forces, one of the five migrants killed was a woman. Eight migrants were taken to the hospital, and a further 21 were rescued and taken to the Safi detention center for processing, he said in a press conference.
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A Maltese patrol boat was dispatched to rescue the migrants, but the vessel capsized during the rescue operation because the passengers moved to one side of the boat, The Times of Malta quoted Zahra as saying. As of 3 pm on Friday, the armed forces were still searching for other survivors or bodies in the sea.
Malta rescued 380 migrants at sea in 2023, its lowest annual total in years and just 10% of the number of irregular migrants who reached the island in 2019, according to dpa.
The country has also increased its relocation and repatriation efforts in recent years, relocating 159 irregular migrants and deporting roughly 1,700 others in 2023.
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