Thirty people have died after a boat carrying nearly 50 migrants capsized in bad weather

Boat carrying 47 people capsized 176 km northwest of Benghazi, Libya, killing 30 passengers

The boat that capsized was carrying 47 migrants from Libya (

Image: @seawatch_intl/Twitter)

Thirty people have died in the Mediterranean after a boat carrying migrants from Libya capsized in bad weather.

Alarm Phone, a charity monitoring distress calls from migrant ships crossing to Europe, posted on Twitter on Sunday afternoon that a boat carrying 47 people capsized 176 km northwest of Benghazi .

At around 9:00 p.m. Sunday, the charity said on its website that 30 people had lost their lives after the boat sank. The FROLAND merchant ship picked up and rescued 17 people, who watched their friends and family die alongside them.

"The Alarm Phone was alerted by 47 people on a boat in distress, trying to escape the inhuman conditions in Libya. They relayed their GPS position (N 33°56, E018°28) which we transmitted to Italian, Maltese and Libyan authorities at 2:28 a.m. CET on March 11," the update read.

"The situation was critical. The boat was adrift. The weather conditions were extremely dangerous. The people on board were shouting on the telephone that they needed help."

Crosses and flowers to pay tribute to the victims of the sinking of the Steccato di Cutro, which killed 72 people at the beginning of the month (

Picture:

CARMELO IMBESI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Alarm Phone said workers had contacted the...