8 migrants dead, 86 rescued from sinking dinghy off Libya

ROME — At least eight migrants died and 86 others were rescued Saturday from a smugglers’ rubber dinghy after it starting sinking in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, the Italian coast guard said.

A search was ongoing to find any more possible survivors.

The coast guard said there was no confirmation of Libyan authorities’ statement that at least 25 migrants had died.

The Italian coast guard, which coordinates rescues in international waters off Libya’s coast, said an aircraft on patrol for a European anti-smuggling operation had spotted the dinghy, which was in difficulty Saturday morning.

Italian navy and coast guard vessels were involved in the rescue.

Coast guard Cmdr. Sergio Liardo told Italian state TV RaiNews24 that “it appears the dinghy deflated” after a puncture.

When rescuers arrived in the early afternoon, some 20 migrants were still in the dinghy while others were in the water, he said.

All eight victims were female, Liardo said.

Asked about the Libyan navy’s account that at least 25 migrants had died, Liardo said “that’s not confirmed.”

He said survivors told rescuers that roughly 150 migrants were aboard when the dinghy was launched from Libya’s coast.

Authorities say the actual death toll in many of the migrant boats that sink in the Mediterranean is never known, and that some boats vanish without a trace.

Some 119,000 migrants were rescued in unseaworthy boats in the Mediterranean last year and brought to Italy.

The International Organization of Migration also recorded more than 3,100 deaths among migrants making the Mediterranean crossing in 2017.