Palestinian refugees missing after ship sunk by Libyan coastguard

The Working Group for Palestinian Refugees in Syria said on Sunday that a ship carrying hundreds of refugees sank in the Mediterranean after being fired on by the Libyan coastguard. The ship left Tripoli last Friday.

Speaking in Malta, one of the survivors said that the Libyans wounded two refugees and damaged the ship, which managed to limp to a point between Lampedusa and Malta where it sank. Around 70 Palestinians were rescued and are now in Malta but a number are still missing. The ship was carrying 375 refugees.

The survivors appealed to international bodies, human rights organisations and the Maltese Red Cross to intervene immediately to search for the missing passengers.