ISTANBUL

At least 70 people went missing on Saturday after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean, an Italian NGO said Sunday.

Mediterranea Saving Humans announced on US social media platform X that 32 survivors and two bodies were recovered from the shipwreck while over 70 went missing.

"Yesterday afternoon, a wooden vessel carrying ~105 women, men, and children, which had set sail from Tajoura fleeing Libya, capsized in the SAR (search and rescue) zone under Libyan control. The shipwreck occurred 14 nautical miles northeast of the ENI-NOC oil platforms in Bouri," it said, referring to the Bouri Offshore Field located 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the Libyan coast

Survivors disembarked and the bodies recovered arrived early Sunday on Italy's southern island of Lampedusa.

"Another 70 people are missing at sea. We stand close to the pain of the survivors, their families, and friends," the NGO added.

"This latest shipwreck is not a tragic accident, but the result of European governments’ policies, which refuse to open safe and legal entry channels."

On Lampedusa, survivors told the ANSA news agency that there were initially 110 people on board and suggested that around 80 ended up in the sea and drowned before the arrival of a coast guard patrol.