(ANSA) - ROME, APRIL 22 - Dozens of migrants are missing, and there are fears of drowning in the sinking of a rubber dinghy off the Libyan coast, according to reports from SosMediterranee.
According to reports from the crew of the Ocean Viking, 130 people were on board a rubber dinghy that had attempted the crossing in prohibitive sea conditions and of which traces have been lost to the north-east of Tripoli.
Thirteen corpses have so far been sighted at sea but it has not been possible to recover them.
Today - says Luisa Albera, Research and Rescue coordinator aboard the Ocean Viking - after hours of research, our worst fear has come true. The crew of the OceanViking had to witness the devastating consequences of the sinking of a rubber dinghy north-east of Tripoli. On Wednesday morning, the alarm went off with respect to this same boat with about 130 people on board "." In the absence of effective coordination by the state - adds Albera - three merchant ships and Ocean Viking cooperated to organize research in extremely difficult sea conditions . Today, while we searched relentlessly, in the total lack of support from the competent maritime authorities, three bodies were spotted in the water by the merchant ship My Rose.A Frontex plane spotted the wreck of a dinghy shortly after. From the time we arrived at the site today we found no survivors, but we did see at least ten bodies in the vicinity of the wreck. We are heartbroken. "(ANSA).