MILAN (Reuters) -A vessel with around 400 people on board is adrift between Greece and Malta and is taking on water, support service Alarm Phone said on Sunday, after a sharp rise of migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.
Alarm Phone said on Twitter they had received a call from the boat, which departed from Tobruk, in Libya, overnight and that they had informed authorities. But authorities had not launched a rescue operation so far, they added.
Alarm Phone said the boat was now in the Maltese Search and Rescue area (SAR).
German NGO Sea-Watch International said on its Twitter account it had found the boat with two merchant ships nearby.
It said the Maltese authorities had ordered the ships not to carry out a rescue and that one of them was just asked to supply it with fuel.
It was not immediately possible to reach Maltese authorities for comment.
Alarm Phone said people on board were panicking,…
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