Survivors have indicated that between 400 and 700 people were on board the boat when it capsized, he added.

Karl Stagno-Navarra, a journalist based mostly in Valletta, Malta, advised Al Jazeera that an Irish navy vessel confirmed that the boat capsized when the individuals on board rushed to at least one aspect when the LE Niamh acquired near it.

“It was a horrific sight, people desperately clinging to lifebelts, boats and anything they could, fighting for their lives, amidst people drowning and those who had already died”, said Juan Matías, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders on the Dignity I.

An Irish patrol vessel, LÉ Niamh, was first on the scene – and deployed rigid hull inflatable boats on each side of the stricken boat. “However, the vessel capsized”.

Irish authorities say that 367 people, including 12 women and 13 children, have been rescued.

Since the water was warm, rescuers worked with hope of finding more survivors, even as dusk approached.

The incident is understood to have happened about 25 miles off the Libyan coast after the boat left from the city of Zuwara in the north-west of the country early this morning.

Tons of of migrants making an attempt to succeed in throughout the Mediterranean from Libya are feared to have drowned after their fishing boat capsized off the North African nation. Only 28 people, including two alleged smugglers, survived.

Italian navy divers determined that hundreds of migrants were trapped inside the boat when it sank.

It’s possible the number of casualties could rise sharply; media reports from Italy and elsewhere suggest that as many as 200 people remain unaccounted for.

Around 50,000 refugees arrived on roughly 800 boats under former Labor Party governments between 2007 and 2013, Dutton said, underscoring the sharp decline since the turn-back policy was enacted.

Italy’s southern coasts in recent months have seen the countless arrivals of migrants.

More than 2,000 migrants have now died this year as they tried to make the perilous crossing, the worldwide Organization for Migration said in a statement Tuesday. There they set sail in flimsy motorized rubber dinghies or rickety old fishing boats. When the vessels have problems, often someone aboard contacts the coast guard by satellite phone to request rescue. Other boats in distress are spotted by Triton air surveillance.

Numerous newcomers look to move swiftly to wealthier northern Europe, including to Britain from Calais, France.