At least 23 migrants are feared dead after two boats– a rubber dinghy boat and a wooden one– which reportedly set off from Libya en route Italy through the Mediterranean Sea were almost sinking and had to be rescued.

Joel Millman, the spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday said the migrants, who were mainly from West Africa were missing, suggesting that they had probably drowned.

Millman told a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland that another 132 migrants who were found helplessly sailing on the rubber dinghy had been rescued safely.

He said the migrants, among whom were one pregnant woman and 14 children who had no family among the survivors were rescued by a Cypriot merchant ship and handed over to SOS Mediterrannee, an emergency service patrolling the sea.

According to one survivor who reportedly hails from the Gambia, 30 persons were on the sinking wooden boat while another 21 died in the shipwreck.

According to SOS Mediterrannee, the Libyan coastguard also picked up about 90 persons from the dinghy. The migrants are believed to be desperate not to be returned back to Libya where they face widespread torture and abuse.