UN: Hundreds of migrants missing at sea, feared dead

An estimated 300 people are missing and feared dead after attempting to reach Italy from Libya in stormy weather this week, the U.N. refugee agency said on Wednesday after speaking to a handful of survivors.

An Italian tugboat rescued nine people who had been on two boats on Monday and took them to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday morning.

They are the only known survivors from their boats, leaving more than 200 unaccounted for, they told representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The survivors said there was a third large dinghy that also left Libya on Saturday and was missing, Barbara Molinario, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, told Reuters.

In an incident apparently related to yet another boat full of migrants, the Italian coast guard picked up 105 people on Sunday in extremely dangerous sea conditions near Libya, with the temperature hovering just a few degrees above freezing. Twenty-nine from that dinghy died of hypothermia in the 18 hours it took the coast guard to ferry them to Italy.

The recent deaths at sea have reignited criticism of Italy's decision last year to end a full-scale search-and-rescue mission, known as Mare Nostrum, because of concerns over costs. The EU took over Italy's operation, but it patrols only close to Europe's coast. Italy patrolled the waters up to Libya's coast.

Every year, thousands of migrants fleeing war, famine or poverty in Africa and the Middle East attempt to reach the shores of Europe. But the route through the Mediterranean is extremely treacherous, with as many as 3,000 people dying while attempting to cross last year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Al Jazeera and wire services