A wooden vessel carrying around 60 migrants from Libya has gone down in the central Mediterranean Sea, leaving at least 10 people dead and search operations still under way in the latest Migrants Boat Mishap Near Malta.
The migrant boat mishap near Malta incident occurred about 45 nautical miles east-southeast of the island, prompting an international search and rescue operation on Sunday afternoon.
Malta formally requested help from Italy after the vessel was reported capsized with migrants aboard and people in the water. Italy’s coast guard responded by dispatching a patrol boat to the scene.
Fishing vessel pulled 48 from the sea
A fishing boat in the area rescued around 48 people alive from the approximately 60 reported to have set off from the Libyan coast.
Italy’s coast guard confirmed in a statement that its patrol boat subsequently recovered 10 bodies. Search operations, the statement added, were continuing and were being coordinated by the Maltese authorities.
The rescue organisation Sea-Watch said 11 migrants were unaccounted for. Sea-Watch announced that at least 11 people had died after the migrant boat capsized in Maltese waters, while around 50 others remained missing.
A plane operated by an NGO conducting search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean also confirmed that the migrants had departed from Libya. The NGO placed the number of passengers at around 60 but did not provide a source for that figure.
A year already among the deadliest
This migrants boat mishap near Malta is the latest in a string of wrecks along what remains one of the world’s most dangerous sea crossings.
The beginning of 2026 was among the deadliest in the Mediterranean since 2014, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration.
The IOM reports that at least 990 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean this year. Last year, at least 2,180 people died or went missing.
The IOM said that about 765 of those deaths in 2026 occurred in the central Mediterranean alone, exceeding the total during the same period last year by more than 460.
Libya has long served as a main departure point for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty across Africa and the Middle East. Overcrowded and poorly equipped boats regularly attempt the crossing, often resulting in incidents such as the Migrants Boat Mishap Near Malta
EU weighs new deportation rules
In the aftermath of the Migrants Boat Mishap Near Malta, European politicians continue debating how to manage irregular migration across the Mediterranean.
European Union member states recently agreed in principle on new rules that would allow governments to deport asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected to third countries. The deal was first proposed by the European Commission last November. Under the proposed framework, which still requires formal approval, return hubs would be established outside the EU, though no locations have been announced.
Rights groups argue that tougher enforcement does little to reduce crossings when legal pathways remain scarce and conditions in Libya leave migrants with few alternatives.
Italy’s coast guard said on Sunday night that its search vessel was still combing the waters east-southeast of Malta. No further survivors had been confirmed at the time of publication.
