14 Algerian “Harraga” feared to have perished off Sardinia’s coast

The Italian coast guard is coordinating a search of waters off the island of Sardinia after Algerian authorities informed them that a boat with some 14 Algerian illegal migrants never reached the Mediterranean island.

Coast guard and other military vessels, aided by aircraft including from the European Frontex mission, were searching a vast area Saturday. According to Algerian port authorities, the vessel was believed to have set sail from the far-eastern Algerian province of Annaba two days earlier.

Media outlets said an overturned wooden boat was spotted 40 kilometers (25 miles) off Sardinia’s coast. But Italy’s coast guard said there was no immediate confirmation that the vessel was the boat they were searching for.

Cargo ships were also alerted to be on the lookout for migrants or the boat.

The alarm about the migrants’ sudden disappearance was raised by the Algerian authorities who have been conducting research themselves since the boat has been unaccounted for.

Intensive research currently covers a very large area in the south of Sardinia, involving two patrol boats of the Italian Coast Guard, a patrol boat and a helicopter of the financial police, a helicopter of the Air Force, a helicopter and a plane from Frontex.

Reliable sources told “Echorouk” that families of the disappeared illegal migrants have lost all phone contact with them and now fear the worst.