ROME, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were dead and over 20 people were rescued after a shipwreck off Italy's southern island of Lampedusa, local media and humanitarian organizations reported on Monday.
22 people were rescued and the bodies of two women were recovered after their "overloaded" wooden vessel carrying about 50 people capsized as Coast Guard and Finance Guard vessels were approaching it, according to the Italian Coast Guard.
The migrants all shifted to one side of the boat when they saw rescuers approaching, and this combined with adverse weather caused the disaster, the Coast Guard said in a communique published by Italian news agency ANSA.
"Shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa," tweeted Flavio Di Giacomo, who serves as spokesperson at the Coordination Office for the Mediterranean of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
"About 30 migrants are still missing while survivors for the moment are 22... The boat, departed from Tunisia, had about 50 people on board."
