Two children, aged 3 and 4, and an adult died during a Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy on a frail boat whose engine gave way, a German aid organization has said.
The bodies of the deceased migrants have been brought to land on the Italian island of Lampedusa, the German aid organization RESQSHIP said on Sunday.
The German sea rescue charity said it had rescued 59 survivors from the same boat.
The migrants were intercepted on Saturday on a rubber dinghy floating adrift south of Lampedusa. The boat’s engine had failed shortly after it took off from western Libya on Wednesday, leaving those on board adrift and exposed to the wind and tide elements for an extended period, according to RESQSHIP.