This picture released on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, by Sea Punk shows some of the migrants who were saved at sea by the humanitarian ship Sea Punk I off the Italian island of Lampedusa over the weekend. SEA PUNK VIA AP, HO

Three young African brothers drowned making the perilous central Mediterranean crossing with their parents, a German humanitarian group said Monday, after rescuing 17 people in a chaotic scene that saw survivors drifting away.

Two toddler brothers died when the smugglers' boat sank, while survivors reported that a third child had drowned earlier in their journey from Libya aboard an unseaworthy fiberglass-bottom boat, said Stephen Schrenzenmeier, head of operations aboard the Sea Punk 1.

"At around 7 AM this morning, the crew of Sea Punk I heard cries for help nearby," the group said in a social media post, along with several images showing people in the water. "Right in front of the bow, several people were in the water, scattered into different groups."

The body of a 3-year-old was plucked from the sea during the rescue on Sunday, while a 2-year-old died on board the rescue vessel while medical personnel attempted life-saving measures, said the group's spokesman Gerson Reschke. Survivors reported that several more people, including the boys' brother, died during the voyage.

People were drifting in the water on both sides of the boat when the rescue vessel arrived in response to an emergency call. Survivors were screaming and drifting away from each other, while rescuers got into a small boat and picked people up one by one, Schrezenmeier told The Associated Press.

A family of three survived the ordeal, including a pregnant woman who was airlifted to Malta for treatment, while the husband and child have been taken to Italy, Schrezenmeier said. "We really hope they will be reunited very soon,'' he said.

Maltese authorities also airlifted a man who had difficulty breathing after swallowing seawater and had severe hypothermia.

All of the people on board were from sub-Saharan Africa, Schrezenmeier said.

The rescue happened in a part of the Malta search-and-rescue zone that is closer to Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa than the tiny EU island nation. Schrezenmeier praised both the Maltese and Italian authorities for a quick response to their calls for aid.

Sea Punks 1 transferred 15 survivors and the two bodies to an Italian coast guard vessel, which brought them to Lampedusa. Many showed signs of severe hypothermia, the group said.

"Our thoughts are with the relatives who lost people they loved today," the group said on social media.

Italy's coast guard also picked up some 38 people who were rescued by fishermen, Schrenzenmeier said.

Last month, a different rescue group said more than 40 migrants were feared dead off Lampedusa after a lone 11-year-old survivor said the boat she was on capsized.

The U.N. Missing Migrant Project puts the number of the dead and missing in the perilous Central Mediterranean at over 24,506 from 2014-2024, many of whom were lost at sea. The project says that number may be greater, as many deaths go unrecorded, with the sightings of so-called ghost ships with no one aboard and remains of people washing ashore in Libya not associated with any known shipwreck.

Earlier this month, Spanish coastguards rescued a baby that was born on an inflatable vessel carrying migrants to the Canary Islands. The newborn was recovered safely along with their mother on Monday, the coastguard service said in a message on social media.

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