A group of 95 migrants are drifting in Maltese waters and run the risk of drowning, an emergency hotline NGO has said. 

Early on Sunday morning, migrant support hotline Alarm Phone said that group were floating in the Maltese SAR zone and their overcrowded vessel was taking in water. 

According to Alarm Phone, Maltese and Italian authorities were informed of the situation but were choosing to ignore the distress calls. 

People on the boat could be hears saying "we are really dying!” and "we are drowning. What are they waiting for? That we die?", Alarm Phone said. 

The NGO said that people on board were agitated as the water entering the boat could not be easily displaced due to overcrowding. 

They also said that they are attempting to contact a nearby towing vessel, the Maridive 230 to ask for rescue, as attempts to forward GPS coordinates to the authorities were in vain. 

A spokesperson for the AFM told Times of Malta that they had no information on the matter. 

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