AFP, Geneva

More than 180 people are feared dead or missing in Mediterranean shipwrecks over the past 10 days, the United Nations said Tuesday, with nearly 1,000 deaths counted since the start of 2026.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said that so far this year, around 765 people had died in the Central Mediterranean -- over 460 more than during the same period in 2025.

And “across the Mediterranean as a whole, at least 990 deaths have been recorded in 2026”, IOM said, adding that it was “one of the deadliest starts to a year since 2014”, when it began collecting this data.

The agency said that just since March 28, at least 181 people had died or gone missing in five separate shipwrecks.

In the latest incident on Sunday, the agency said more than 80 migrants had gone missing when their boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean after departing from Tajoura Libya, with around 120 people onboard.

“The vessel took on water in rough weather before overturning,” IOM said.