Italian coast guards have launched a search after a boat carrying around 50 migrants turned off the island of Lampedusa overnight from Friday to Saturday.
The sinking took place off the small island south of Sicily as the coast guard transferred migrants in difficulty onto their speedboats, they said in a statement.
Read also: Migrants: the Mediterranean more deadly than ever
According to testimonies collected from survivors, five people are missing. At this stage, around forty migrants, whose origin has not been specified, could be rescued, and a helicopter was mobilized to continue the search.
"Tonight's operation came at the end of a particularly intense day due to the report of a large number of boats carrying migrants"
Friday, the coast guard said in their statement.
