Hundreds of migrants feared dead in sinking of boat off Libya

A boat overflowing with migrants rescued off Libya's Mediterranean coast arrived yesterday at the port of Tripoli. (AFP/Getty Images)

MADRID - Hundreds of migrants were feared drowned in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya yesterday, migrant advocates and Italian officials said, a grim result of a desperate wave of maritime smuggling to Italy.

At least 200 migrants went missing after an overloaded boat sank about 30 miles off Libya's coastline, where Libyan rescuers recovered at least 23 survivors and 20 corpses , according to the International Organization for Migration in Geneva. Responding to a distress call from migrants, an Italian oil freighter rescued another 356 people crammed onto a boat in strong winds and choppy waters, Italian officials said.

"The rescue operation has ended," said Jemini Pandya, a spokeswoman for the Geneva organization. "It doesn't look good."

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva said yesterday that "details were still sketchy" and that "at least" one boat had sunk.

There were reports that a second boat packed with migrants had gone down, said a Red Cross official based in Lampedusa, the tiny Italian island near Tunisia that is a major gateway to Europe.