ROME (Sputnik) — At least eight migrants died as a result of a shipwreck off the Libyan coast, over 80 were rescued, the Italian coast guard said on Saturday.
A search and rescue operation was launched as a patrol plan of the EU Naval Forces in the Mediterranean had detected the shipwrecked boat with migrants in the Libyan waters. As many as 84 people were rescued in what is believed to be the first shipwreck with asylum seekers in 2018.
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At the same time, the German charity Sea Watch said that the death toll in the wreckage could be estimated at 25, while up to 150 people were on board the vessel.
According to the latest data of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a total of 118,928 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea through the Central Mediterranean route in 2017.
