Hundreds Feared Dead or Missing After Multiple Mediterranean Shipwrecks, IOM Warns

The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) says hundreds of people are feared dead or missing after a series of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the past ten days, following severe storms and dangerous sea conditions.

Deadliest Migration Route Continues to Claim Lives
The agency cautioned that the final death toll may be far higher, calling the Central Mediterranean “the world’s deadliest migration corridor.”

Deaths Confirmed in Lampedusa
Three people including one‑year‑old twin girls were confirmed dead in Lampedusa after a rescue operation for a boat that departed from Sfax, Tunisia.Their mother, from Guinea, survived and said the children died of hypothermia. A man also died from the same cause, according to the IOM.

Survivors reported that another boat left at the same time but never arrived. Its fate remains unknown.

Cyclone Harry Leaves Boats Missing, Hundreds Unaccounted For
Over the past ten days, a violent Mediterranean storm linked to Cyclone Harry is believed to have caused several boats to disappear.
Poor weather has severely hindered search‑and‑rescue efforts.

The IOM is also verifying:

A survivor’s account from a boat rescued near Malta, reporting a shipwreck with at least 50 people missing or dead

A separate wreck off Tobruk, Libya, where 51 people are feared dead

IOM Condemns Smuggling Practices
The agency strongly criticized smugglers for sending migrants to sea in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels, calling it a criminal act.
Launching boats during a severe storm, it said, amounted to exposing people to a “near‑certain risk of death.”

A Deadly Year in the Mediterranean
According to IOM figures, at least 1,340 people died in the Central Mediterranean in 2025, underscoring the ongoing humanitarian crisis.