The boat carrying 550 people capsized Sunday (April 12). The Italian Coast Guard recovered nine bodies and 144 survivors from the site, an official said on Monday.
There was no confirmation of the 400 still missing from Italian authorities. Save the Children said it calculated the number from descriptions by the survivors who were brought to the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria.
If the number is confirmed, it would be the worst refugee catastrophe in the Mediterranean since October 2013 when 366 migrants drowned off the Italian island Lampedusa, provoking Europe-wide consternation.
"More landings are expected as instability continues in Libya, raising concerns that many more children will brave the perilous journey to find safety in Italy," the aid organisation said.
Last year, a record 170,000 migrants landed on Italian shores, and an estimated 3,419 drowned along the way, prompting humanitarian groups to label the Mediterranean the world's deadliest sea migration route.
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