More than 400 migrants are feared dead in the latest tragedy some 300 miles southeast of Malta, according to local media on Sunday evening.
The alert was raised on Friday afternoon by a merchant ship AMS PEGASUS which sighted two persons in water. Then the Malta Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) rescued nine migrants during a search and rescue operation early Saturday morning.
Rescuers were told by the nine survivals that two boats carrying migrants were involved in the accident. The larger boat appears to have been carrying between 300 and 400 people, while the smaller one was carrying about 30.