ROMEsmallarcademachine, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two persons died and another went missing in a migrant boat accident which took place on Saturday evening off the eastern coast of southern Italy's Sicily, according to the country's coast guard on Sunday.
The coast guard said it received a distress call from a boat located about 17 miles southeast of Syracuse carrying migrants.
The coast guard dispatched a patrol boat and plane to the area, but the occupants of the vessel ended up in the water as the patrol boat approached, it said in a statement.
Although 34 people were recovered from the water, one died upon arrival and another after reaching the hospital.
The search at sea for the missing person who was on board the vessel, which later sank, is currently underway, according to local media reports.■
