No trace of boat with 500 migrants, rescue group says after an alarm sparked Mediterranean search

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — An Italian humanitarian group says it found no trace of a boat said to be in distress and carrying 500 migrants. The nongovernmental organization Emergency made the statement on Friday a day after searching a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea. Emergency said in a statement from Milan that its rescue vessel Life Support found no traces of any shipwreck. It raised the possibility that the migrants were brought back to Libya. The country is the launching point for many of the smugglers’ unseaworthy boats that aim to bring migrants to Italy’s shores.