No survivors found after Libya coast shipwreck

A deadly shipwreck off the coast of Libya has left no survivors, with 10 dead bodies found within the vicinity of the wreck.

According to SOS Mediterranee, three boats had been in distress in international waters off Libya. Their rescue ship, the Ocean Viking, was alerted to the situation by civil hotline Alarm Phone, and they proceeded to search for the boats.

"We searched for two of these boats, one after the other, in a race against time and in very rough seas, with up to six-metre waves. In the absence of effective State-led coordination,  three merchant vessels and the Ocean Viking cooperated to organise the search in extremely difficult sea conditions," the NGO stated.

Three dead bodies were eventually spotted in the water by a merchant ship, while a Frontex airplane spotted the wreck of a rubber boat soon after.

This capsized rubber dingy is believed to have been carrying up to 150 migrants (Photo: Flavio Gasperini/SOS Mediterranee)

"Since we arrived on scene today, we have not found any survivors while we could see at least ten bodies in the vicinity of the wreck."

In reaction to the drowning, NGO Sea-Watch said that the coordinates of the boat were known, and a FRONTEX aircraft sighted the boat, but no rescue operation had been initiated.

As their ship, the Sea-Watch 4, set off for rescue after being detained by Italian government at the port of Palermo, the flags on board were flyinf half-mast.

"It is chilling to witness how the sacrifice of human life at European borders is becoming the new 'normal', while authorities do everything they can to block and criminalise the work of those who are actually trying to save lives at sea," said Hannah Wallace Bowman, Head of Mission on the Sea-Watch 4.