Pregnant woman dies, 22 missing in Malta shipwreck

A pregnant woman died and at least 22 people including children are missing, presumed drowned, following a shipwreck in the central Mediterranean, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Tuesday.

The crew of the charity’s Geo Barents migrant rescue ship did however manage to pull 71 survivors, including a four-month-old baby, from the sinking rubber boat after it collapsed on Monday, it said.

“What we faced yesterday was our worst nightmare coming true,” the ship’s search and rescue team leader Riccardo Gatti said in an MSF statement.

The boat was sinking and many people were already in the sea when the Geo Barents arrived following a distress call from migrant rescue hotline Alarm Phone.

The pregnant woman was brought on board but did not survive despite desperate attempts to resuscitate her, MSF said.

It said that at least 22 people are missing, according to information being gathered from survivors.

Two women had reported losing their children at sea, while another young woman lost her little brother.

The baby required emergency care before she and her mother were evacuated to Malta, but the others remain on board until the can find a port to disembark.