Hundreds Feared Drowned as Cyclone Hits Migrant Boats in Mediterranean

By Al Mayadeen English

26 Jan 2026 23:34

Rescue groups and agencies warn that restrictive border policies and fewer rescue ships leave people fleeing danger with little choice but to risk deadly sea crossings.

Hundreds of people are feared to have drowned while attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week as Cyclone Harry swept across southern Italy and Malta, according to Italian and Maltese authorities.

Italy’s coastguard said as many as 380 people may have died at sea, while Maltese officials confirmed a separate shipwreck in which at least 50 people lost their lives.

One survivor was rescued from the shipwreck and hospitalized in Malta after the incident on Friday.

According to Alarm Phone, a maritime distress hotline, the man spent about 24 hours at sea clinging to debris before being picked up by a merchant vessel. He told rescuers that he believed all other passengers on the boat had died. The vessel had departed from Tunisia on January 20.

Children presumed dead near Lampedusa

In another incident last week, one-year-old twin girls from Guinea are presumed to have died after an overcrowded boat was battered by Cyclone Harry near the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The deaths were reported by UNICEF’s Italy-based migrant and refugee response team.

Italy’s coastguard said it is searching for eight vessels launched by people smugglers from the Tunisian port of Sfax over the past 10 days, despite severe weather conditions and dangerous seas.

Authorities said the cyclone generated massive waves across the Mediterranean, making rescue operations particularly difficult.

Migration numbers and policy context

Italy’s Interior Ministry reported that 66,296 people arrived by boat in 2025, a slight decrease from the previous year and roughly half the total recorded in 2023.

The sharp decline followed measures introduced by Italy’s far-right government, including agreements with Libya and Tunisia aimed at curbing departures.

The number of NGO rescue vessels operating in the central Mediterranean has fallen amid a government crackdown, which includes fines and rules requiring rescued migrants to be disembarked at distant ports rather than closer locations such as Sicily.

Despite the risks and tighter enforcement, people continue to attempt the dangerous journey from North Africa to Europe.

Italy remains one of the main arrival points along the central Mediterranean route, which is considered among the world’s most lethal. The UN’s International Organization for Migration has recorded at least 25,600 deaths and disappearances on this route since 2014, most involving boats departing from Tunisia or Libya.