An estimated 300 people are feared dead after attempting to reach Italy from Libya in three inflatable rafts, the UN refugee agency said after speaking to survivors rescued by Italy's coastguard in the past few days. An Italian tug boat rescued nine people who had been on two different boats on Monday and brought them to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday morning. They are the only known survivors from their two boats, leaving more than 200 unaccounted for, according to a tweet by Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokesperson for Southern Europe. Three boats, each carrying about 100 people, are missing, according to interviews with survivors from two of the boats, Barbara Molinario, another UNCHR official, told the Reuters news agency