ABOVE: Still images of the capsized migrant vessel off Lampedusa
ROME – Malta’s prime minister says 27 people are confirmed dead in the capsizing of a migrant ship off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
Joseph Muscat told a news conference late Friday in the Maltese capital Valletta that more than 200 people have been rescued and that the search is continuing. He said at least three of the 27 dead are children.
The capsizing occurred some 65 miles (105 kilometres) southeast of Lampedusa, but in waters where Malta has search and rescue responsibilities.
Italy’s coast guard previously stated that many of the migrants aboard a boat that capsized off Lampedusa have survived and helicopters are taking the injured to the Sicilian island.
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A Maltese armed forces statement says that since the boat was in Maltese search and rescue waters, a Maltese aircraft was sent up and reported that the boat had capsized and that “numerous” people were in the water. The aircraft dropped a life raft and a patrol boat soon arrived at the scene.
Lampedusa, a tiny speck of an island closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, is the destination of choice of smugglers ferrying migrants from Libya or Tunisia to Europe. They usually charge more than 1,000 euro ($1,355) a head and cram the migrants onto boats that routinely run into trouble and require rescue.
Last week, a ship carrying some 500 people capsized off Lampedusa, killing more than 300 people. Only 155 survived. The deaths prompted calls for the European Union to do more to better patrol the southern Mediterranean and prevent such tragedies.
READ MORE: EU announces 30 million to help refugees in Italy
During a visit to Lampedusa this week, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso promised Italy some 30 million euro in EU funds to better care for newly arrived migrants, and Itlalian officials pledged to put the issue on the agenda of an upcoming European Union summit.
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