The statement came when an estimated 170 people had either died or gone missing in two latest shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea. UNHCR cited recent information from NGO sources as saying that some 53 people have died on the Alboran Sea, western Mediterranean. According to the statement, one survivor was rescued by a passing fishing boat after being stranded for more than 24 hours at sea and is receiving medical treatment in Morocco.

Moroccan and Spanish rescue vessels have been searching for the boat and survivors for several days to no avail. The Italian Navy are also reporting an additional shipwreck on the central Mediterranean, in which 117 people are currently dead or missing. Three survivors were taken for treatment on Lampedusa, and the boat was departed from Libya, the statement said.