The Alarm Phone platform, which receives reports about migrants stranded at sea, said on Monday that 23 people who had sailed from Algeria’s coast on two boats in separate journeys were missing, with no information on their fate available as of 12 October. The platform said on its X account that the first boat left the coast near Zeralda, Algeria, on 4 October carrying 17 migrants.
Details of the second boat and missing-person reports
The second boat was carrying six people and left the Algerian coast two days later, heading towards the Spanish coast. The platform said the authorities had been notified of the people missing at sea, adding: “The authorities have taken note of those missing at sea and must respond to their search-and-rescue duties.”
The disappearance of the two boats comes as changing weather conditions in the Mediterranean increase the risks faced by migrants trying to reach the northern shore, particularly on the boats used for these sea journeys. In a separate incident, Sea-Watch said its rescue vessel saved 51 people late on Sunday, including a pregnant woman, who were travelling on a boat that was close to sinking.
The rescue operation came after the organisation received an alert from the Alarm Phone platform about the boat. The organisation added that it had also assisted 28 other people aboard an overcrowded inflatable boat in international waters, noting that about half of them were minors and that the assistance helped save them from drowning.
Data from the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project indicate that 1,980 people have died or gone missing since the beginning of the year while attempting to cross the Mediterranean, in a total that includes incidents recorded on the various maritime migration routes.
