Several dozen people are missing and feared dead in the central Mediterranean after the boat in which they were travelling from Libya capsized in bad weather, two rescue organisations have said. The Mediterranea Saving Humans NGO tweeted that according to several sources, the vessel, travelling in the direction of Italy, capsized this morning about 110 miles (180km) north-west of Benghazi. Alarm Phone, a charity that picks up calls from vessels in distress, said on Twitter it had first alerted authorities on Saturday, emphasising that the boat, which was carrying 47 people, needed immediate rescue. “We are in shock. According to different sources, dozens of people from this boat in distress have drowned,” it said on Twitter. There was no immediate official comment from Italy about the fate of the boat. Italian authorities had requested merchant vessels in the area to intervene, according to Mediterranea. However, it said they did not carry out a rescue operation once they reached the area. Mediterranea’s head of mission, Luca Casarini, told Reuters that four merchant vessels were still in the area. Italy’s capabilities to rescue people making crossings in the Mediterranean have come under scrutiny after a 26 February shipwreck near the southern region of Calabria, in which at least 79 died. On Saturday, the coastguard said that more than 1,300 people had been rescued in three separate operations off the southern tip of Italy, with a further 200 saved off Sicily.