One person has been found dead and dozens are thought to be missing after a boat carrying around 100 migrants sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, dpa quoted authorities as saying Friday. Overall, 56 people have been rescued from the shipwreck, including one pregnant woman. "They all appear to be from Tunisia," Filippo Marini, a spokesman for the Italian coast guard, told the SkyTg24 broadcaster. Survivors said the boat was carrying more than 100 people, meaning that at least 40 people are expected to be still missing. People on board had alerted Italian authorities that their boat was sinking at around 6 pm (1600 GMT) Thursday, but the first survivors were only found at around 2:30 am on Friday. Most of the survivors had swam to safety to Lampione, an uninhabited islet near Lampedusa. Two were picked up at sea by a German NATO ship.
