Sea-Watch says its vessel Aurora rescued 28 people after a rubber dinghy sank off Tunisia and recovered two bodies, including a child. At least six people remain missing. Lower arrivals in Italy have not meant fewer reported deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean.
Sea-Watch said 23 survivors, including a toddler, had taken refuge on an offshore oil-and-gas platform. The group's vessel Aurora rescued 28 people and recovered two bodies, one of them a child. Reuters reported the account on Tuesday.
Five other survivors and the two bodies were found in the deflated dinghy. Aurora was heading to Lampedusa, the Italian island, with the rescued people.
Sea-Watch said at least six people remained missing, including three children. The count came from testimony by survivors. The information available for this report does not include a separate account from Tunisia's authorities or state news agency TAP. The count is not confirmed independently.
The incident happened on the central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy. People attempt the crossing in boats that are not seaworthy. Arrival figures alone cannot show how many people remain missing or need rescue at sea.
More than 22,000 people had arrived by sea in Italy so far in 2026, compared with more than 50,000 during the same period in 2025, according to Italian Interior Ministry data cited in the reporting. Sea-Watch said more than 1,970 people had died or gone missing in the Mediterranean over the same period. They measure different things. The figures come from different reporting sources and are not a direct measure of the risk on this particular crossing.
Sea-Watch spokesperson Julia Winkler criticized governments for presenting falling arrivals as a success while people continued to die or disappear at sea. She called for a state-run European search-and-rescue programme. The figures cited here do not establish what caused the wreck. They also do not explain why people sought refuge on the offshore platform.
Arrival totals cannot replace information on distress calls, rescue coverage or people still unaccounted for, for European policymakers and North African governments. Sea-Watch's account records 28 people brought to safety, two recovered bodies and at least six people still missing.
