50 migrants stranded at sea off Lampedusa; rescued, but 15-year-old Guinean boy missing.

Last Updated: March 26, 2024

A 15-year-old Guinean boy is missing after 51 Gambian, Guinean, Malian, and Senegalese migrants ended up in the sea during the rescue of their iron boat by the coast guard off the coast of Lampedusa. The coast guard recovered 50 people, including 11 women and 2 minors, but the boy is still missing. The 7-meter boat set sail from Sfax, Tunisia, on Friday night, according to the survivors. A young girl, possibly not even twenty, was the one who called the attention of rescuers and volunteers, screaming, “My brother is missing, where is my brother?” Once the survivors arrived at the Favarola pier in Lampedusa, it was discovered that the 15-year-old boy was not among them. Search operations immediately began in the exact point where the migrants fell into the water during the transfer process. Despite the coast guard’s instructions to remain still and wait for the transfer, shouted through megaphones, the migrants moved en masse towards one side of the coast guard boat causing the 7-meter iron boat to capsize.