Save the Children says one-year-old twin girls are missing at sea after a migrant boat carrying 61 people, including the twins' mother and 22 unaccompanied minors, reached Lampedusa amid stormy conditions worsened by Cyclone Harry. A man later died after disembarking. The IOM calls the Central Mediterranean the deadliest migration route, reporting nearly 1,000 deaths and disappearances in 2025 and more than 25,000 since 2014. Save the Children has urged the EU and governments to establish safer routes and strengthen search-and-rescue efforts.
One-Year-Old Twin Girls Feared Lost at Sea After Migrant Boat Reaches Lampedusa, Charity Says
The Central Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration [File: Chris McGrath/Getty Images]
Save the Children has reported that one-year-old twin girls are missing at sea after a boat carrying dozens of migrants and refugees reached the Italian island of Lampedusa this week.
The charity said 61 people were rescued from the vessel a day earlier, including the twins' mother and 22 unaccompanied minors. Survivors told rescuers they had departed from Tunisia and endured stormy seas for at least three days, arriving in a state of severe physical and psychological distress. Cyclone Harry further worsened conditions during the crossing.
Save the Children also reported that a man died after disembarking the boat.
Deadly Central Mediterranean Route
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) describes the Central Mediterranean as the world’s deadliest known migration route. The IOM reported nearly 1,000 deaths and disappearances in the Central Mediterranean so far in 2025, and more than 25,000 deaths and disappearances since 2014. Last October, 49 people — including 12 children under five — died when a boat capsized after leaving the Tunisian coastal village of Salakta.
According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, departures from Tunisia have risen in recent years. In 2020, Tunisian nationals accounted for more than 60% of Central Mediterranean crossings amid high unemployment and growing socioeconomic and political hardship at home.
Calls for Safer Routes
On Friday, Save the Children warned that people continue to risk their lives on dangerous and often deadly journeys because safe migration routes remain largely absent. Giorgia D’Errico, the charity’s director of institutional relations, placed responsibility on the European Union for policies and decisions that, she said, place people fleeing poverty, violence and persecution at risk.
"We cannot silently watch the loss of human lives, including so many children, that has continued for years, making the sea, once again, a deadly border: this unacceptable massacre must end," D’Errico said.
Save the Children is urging urgent action to expand search-and-rescue capacity, establish safer legal routes, and address the root causes driving people to make these perilous crossings.
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