Seven migrants dead, 50 rescued off Libya, charity says

Italian rescue charity Emergency said Monday it rescued 50 people from a double-deck wooden boat in international waters off Libya and recovered seven bodies.

Emergency said it spotted the overcrowded boat in the early hours and began a rescue operation from its Life Support search and rescue vessel.

Jonathan Nani La Terra, the mission leader on board, said the crew noticed nine people lying on the deck during the rescue. He said other survivors had moved them from the hold, where they had spent the journey.

“Nothing could be done for seven of them. Two are in a critical condition due to suffocation,” he said.

The people on board were from Somalia and Egypt. Survivors said the boat had left Zuwara in Libya early on Sunday.

The International Organization for Migration said last week that known migrant deaths in the central Mediterranean had increased drastically even as migrant numbers fell because of harsher European policies. It said the rise was partly linked to severe weather in January and longer journeys from departure points farther from European shores.

About 17,800 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, compared with 39,116 during the same period in 2025, according to Italian interior ministry data.