More than 180 people are feared dead or missing in Mediterranean shipwrecks over the past 10 days, the United Nations said Tuesday, with nearly 1,000 deaths counted since the start of 2026.
The UN's International Organization for Migration said that so far this year, around 765 people had died in the Central Mediterranean -- over 460 more than during the same period in 2025.
And "across the Mediterranean as a whole, at least 990 deaths have been recorded in 2026", IOM said, adding that it was "one of the deadliest starts to a year since 2014", when it began collecting this data.
The agency said that just since March 28, at least 181 people had died or gone missing in five separate shipwrecks.
In the latest incident on Sunday, the agency said more than 80 migrants had gone missing when their boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean after departing from Tajoura Libya, with around 120 people onboard.
"The vessel took on water in rough weather before overturning," IOM said.
Thirty-two survivors were rescued by a merchant vessel and a tugboat and later brought to Lampedusa by the Italian coast guard, it said, adding that two bodies had been recovered.
In an earlier shipwreck on April 1, at least 19 migrants were found dead aboard a vessel off Lampedusa, IOM said, adding that 58 people, including women and children, had been rescued, with several in critical condition.
Survivors said that boat had left Zuara in Libya overnight between March 28 and 29.
"After three days at sea, the vessel was left adrift due to engine failure, fuel shortages and lack of food as weather conditions deteriorated," IOM said, adding that initial testimonies indicated "many victims died before rescue operations, possibly due to hypothermia".
Also on April 1, at least 19 other migrants died in the Aegean Sea near Bodrum, Turkey, after a rubber boat capsized en route to Greece, the agency said, adding that "several" people had been rescued in that case.
IOM also listed a shipwreck on March 30, near Sfax, Tunisia that left 19 dead and around 20 missing, and another on March 28, in which at least 22 people died off Crete after departing eastern Libya.
"These tragedies show, once again, that far too many people are still risking their lives on dangerous routes," IOM chief Amy Pope said in the statement.
"Saving lives must come first. But we also need stronger, unified efforts to stop traffickers and smugglers from exploiting vulnerable people, and to expand safe and regular pathways – so no one is ever forced into these deadly journeys."
Source: AFP