At least 60 Lebanese and Syrian refugees and migrants have been stranded since Sunday on a fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea and are without food, water and baby formula, The Associated Press reported. Two children have died so far and the boat is leaking, the occupants of the boat told relatives via a satellite phone, according to the report.
The migrants and refugees, who left Lebanon off the coast of the northern city of Tripoli about 10 days ago, are trying to reach Italy to obtain jobs. They are stuck off the coast of Italy and Malta, and those countries have not sent rescue vessels, Al Jazeera reported. Two other vessels that set off at the same time were rescued by Malta’s Navy.
Several such ships have left from Lebanon in recent months as the economic and refugee crisis deepens there, including a boat in April carrying dozens of Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians that sank off the coast of Libya, killing most aboard.