26 women drown in sea crossing

TWENTY-SIX women have drowned in the latest attempt to make the perilous crossing across the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Europe.

Yesterday their bodies were taken by a Spanish ship to Salerno, southern Italy, where investigators have opened a murder inquiry.

In total, 23 women died on Friday after the inflatable dinghy they were travelling on sank.

Their bodies were recovered by the Cantabria, a ship operating as part of an EU anti-trafficking operation. A spokesman said the other three bodies had been found during additional operations in the Mediterranean and were later transferred to the ship.

There was no immediate explanation as to why all the dead were women.

‘It’s a tragedy. The prosecutor’s office will begin looking into it immediately,’ Salerno’s prefect Salvatore Malfi said. ‘We will need to see whether there are suspects to concentrate on or whether the murder inquiry will proceed against persons unknown.’

Investigators would be looking for signs of violence against the women, who are believed to have been Nigerian.

The Cantabria was also carrying 375 migrants rescued from the waves, including 116 women, nine of whom were heavily pregnant.

According to Italy’s interior ministry, more than 111,700 people have reached the country by sea in the first ten months of 2017. The International Organization for Migration said that more than 2,560 migrants had been saved over four days. However, 2,839 people have died while attempting the crossing.