Some 25 people are “in urgent distress” on a boat in the Malta search-and-rescue area, according to a humanitarian organisation. 

The migrant emergency hotline Alarm Phone reported that the group left Benghazi, Libya, four days ago. Two minors on board have died.

A merchant vessel was nearby but then left the scene because the Malta Rescue Coordination Centre said it would handle the situation. Yet no rescue was in sight, the NGO said.  

Times of Malta tried reaching out to the Armed Forces of Malta for comment but no reply was received. The AFM operates the rescue centre.

A pregnant woman and a severely injured man were airlifted from the site of a shipwreck in Malta's search and rescue zone on Sunday after the boat they were travelling on sank.

Seventeen people survived while several others, including two children, died, German rescue NGO Sea Punks said in a statement.

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