An Ivorian migrant fell into the water and drowned after falling asleep while seated on the edge of a rubber dinghy that was taking him to Italy, investigative sources in the Sicilian city of Agrigento said according to media reports on Monday, July 1.

Investigators spoke with some of the 47 passengers on the dinghy who were subsequently rescued by a finance police cutter and taken to Lampedusa.

The officers, with the help of an interpreter, questioned the migrants on board the vessel, who described the incident, explaining that the Ivorian man was not wearing a life vest and did not know how to swim.

Also read: Italy: Three more bodies recovered, around 60 still missing from migrant shipwreck

'The skipper searched for him', passengers said

The person driving the boat, according to witness reports, stopped the boat and went back to search for the man when he heard the passengers scream. However, he was unable to find him, also due to the dark.

No migrant dived into the water to look for him and, after a while, the person driving the boat resumed navigation towards Lampedusa.

The 47 migrants, including two minors and five women, were then rescued by a finance police cutter.

Two minors, pregnant woman on board

The 47 migrants on board, including two minors and five women, one of whom is pregnant, hail from Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Pakistan.

They told investigators that they had departed from Zawiya, in Libya, after paying 1,000 dollars. They were all taken to a hotspot where the 60 guests present were taken by ferry to Porto Empedocle, which they reached at dawn on Sunday, June 30.

Also read: Pregnant woman fights for life on board migrant ship after Italy and Libya ignore rescue pleas