Over 100 people are missing at sea after a boat carrying refugees from Libya sank in waters near the southern Italian island of Lampedusa early Wednesday.
"We fear that many people may be dead," the ANSA news agency quoted a source from the Lampedusa-based rescuers as saying. The rescuers had
picked up 48 survivors in the Channel of Sicily.
Local media said the boat departed from Libya two days ago and was thought to be carrying more than 200 refugees of Eritrean and Somali origin. It sank at about 4am Wednesday around 40 miles from Lampedusa.
Maltese authorities had coordinated the rescue operations because the tragedy took place in Malta's waters. An Italian Coast Guard official
said that "it's too soon to consider all hope lost" though the conditions at sea were difficult.
More than 20,000 migrants, most of them from Tunisia, have landed in Italy so far this year following turmoil in North Africa.
The Italian government reached an agreement with the Tunisian authorities on Tuesday for tough controls to stop the flow of migrants. Italy has relocated migrants staying on the tiny island of
Lampedusa in poor conditions to other places in Italy.