Seven dead and 50 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya

Seven migrants died on Monday after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, while 50 others were rescued, two of them in critical condition, according to the Italian non-governmental organization Emergency.

The organization stated in a press release: “Our team found nine people… seven of them could not be saved, while the other two are in critical condition, having died from asphyxiation.”

The small, overcrowded wooden boat was spotted around 6:00 a.m. on Monday (4:00 a.m. GMT). A vessel belonging to the NGO approached the boat and rescued the survivors under the supervision of a Libyan patrol craft.

The migrants, comprising 45 men and five women, including 29 unaccompanied minors, said they were from Egypt and Somalia.

During her 2022 election campaign, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a far-right politician, pledged to combat illegal immigration.

Her government has signed agreements with Tunisia and Libya to curb departures from their territories and has made it more difficult for humanitarian non-governmental organizations to operate.

According to Italy’s Ministry of the Interior, 17,800 migrants arrived in Italy this year since the beginning of January, compared to 39,116 during the same period in 2025.