Dozens of boat 
migrants feared dead

Italian and Nato rescue crews searched the waters for survivors of the that apparently ran into trouble as it neared Italy.

Crews rescued 56 people but passengers said dozens more were missing.

The survivors, all of them believed to be Tunisian, included a pregnant woman, said the Italian coast guard.

They were rescued from the sea as well as on the uninhabited islet of Lampione west of Italy’s Lampedusa island, the frequent destination of smugglers’ boats leaving north Africa.

Passengers said that more than 100 people had been on board.There was no trace of the boat, which according to the initial reports was an old, 10-metre (33ft) wooden vessel. Tens of thousands of clandestine migrants, many aboard smugglers’ boats, head to Italian shores each year. Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland.