German NGO, Sea Watch, tweeted on Saturday:
“Rubber dingy sunk north of Tripoli. At least 25 people died in the incident, the exact numbers still unclear. The Italian Navy on the scene.”
Meanwhile, AFP reported that Italian coastguards as saying that 85 people were rescued and 8 bodies were recovered in the operation.
Italian coast guard, which coordinates rescues in international waters off Libya’s coast, said an aircraft on patrol for a European anti-smuggling operation spotted the dinghy, which was in difficulty Saturday morning in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian navy and coast guard vessels were involved in the rescue.
Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish humanitarian group that is one of the few NGOs which still operate their own rescue ships, said some migrants had spent hours in the water before being saved.
Laura Lanuza, a spokeswoman, said there were at least 86 survivors. It wasn’t immediately clear why their survivor tally was different than the coast guard.
The aid group tweeted that possibly dozens more migrants could be missing from the boat.
The Italian news agency ANSA said the dinghy was partially submerged when it was spotted.
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