Updated 7:08pm with AFM comments

A pregnant woman and a severely injured man were airlifted from the site of a shipwreck in Malta’s search and rescue (SAR) 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.

Writing on Facebook, the NGO said its Sea Punk I rescue vessel reached the scene at around 7am. Several people were in the water, including a toddler who had already died.

Rescuers initially encountered 21 people, but “several people drowned before their eyes” during the rescue attempt, it said. Most of those retrieved from the water showed signs of severe hypothermia.

Medical staff worked to resuscitate two children, performing CPR, but only one survived, the NGO said.

Describing the rescue, the organisation said “the situation was extremely critical, with people drifting on both sides of the ship and becoming increasingly separated. All available rescue equipment was deployed to save as many lives as possible”.

Media reports place the incident around 53 nautical miles off the coast of Lampedusa. The Italian Coast Guard took the remaining 15 survivors and the bodies of the two deceased children away from the scene.

In a broadside aimed at EU migration policies – which in recent years have seen European countries partner with external states to prevent crossings and the EU’s border force Frontex beefed up – the Sea Punks said it mourned “for people who should not have died if the EU acted differently”.

“We denounce this deadly ignorance that cost two children their lives today. Europe’s policies don’t just isolate – they kill.”

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Sea Punks said that on Saturday it discovered a fibreglass boat in Malta’s rescue zone with 41 people onboard, including five women and six children.

The boat had run out of fuel some nine miles away from Italy’s SAR, leaving it in Malta’s zone. Despite "multiple attempts" to contact Maltese authorities, the NGO received no response, it said.

A spokesperson for the AFM confirmed it had attended the scene of the shipwreck, which occurred 108 nautical miles off Malta.

The spokesperson said a man and woman were evacuated by helicopter and handed over to health authorities for further care. The AFM did not have information about the nationality of the victims or their present condition.

What is Malta's SAR zone?

Malta’s SAR extends some 250,000 square kilometres – roughly the size of the UK.

Despite accusations the large size of the zone makes monitoring the area for shipping incidents and illegal migration more difficult, lawmakers have long ruled out reducing its size due to its economic benefits.

The NGO said Maltese authorities did not respond to multiple attempts at contact about a separate incident in Malta's SAR. Photo: Sea Punks/Facebook.

Malta earns millions of euros each year from air traffic control charges on aircraft using the area, with other benefits including fishing zones and even oil exploration opportunities.

In 2018, then Italian Transport and Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli suggested Malta cede part of its SAR to Italy, saying that if Malta was “not up to the task” of patrolling the area it should consider giving up part of it.

"Malta receives a large amount of public money for the surveillance of its search and rescue area, even though this is in fact patrolled by Italian boats”, the minister said at the time.

“If the Maltese are not up to the task, they just need to say so, modify the search and rescue area and we will take it - along with the funds."

Toninelli’s words were strongly rejected by the Maltese government, which called his statement a “baseless and frivolous attempt to try to impinge on the sovereignty of a neighbouring country” while rejecting accusations the country had ignored calls for assistance.