59 bodies accounted for after migrant boat sinks in rough seas off Italian coast
AT least 59 migrants, including a baby, have died and dozens more have survived after their overloaded boat sank in rough seas off southern Italy.
Quoting unidentified port authorities near the coastal town of Crotone, in Calabria, the toe of the Italian peninsula, broadcaster RAI said the boat was carrying
120 migrants when it ran into trouble at dawn in the Ionian sea yesterday.
By mid-morning, about 40 survivors had been found, said Luca Cari, a spokesman for firefighters involved in rescue efforts.
State TV said some 27 of the survivors made it to shore, apparently on their own.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni said that the migrants were crowded into a 20-metre (66ft) boat in “adverse weather conditions”.
She expressed “her deep sorrow for the many human lives torn away by human traffickers”.
“It’s inhumane to exchange the live of men, women and children for the ‘price’ of a ticket paid by them in the false prospect for a safe voyage,” said Ms Meloni.
She vowed to use her leadership to press for crackdowns on departures arranged by human smugglers and to press fellow European Union leaders to help Italy in her quest.
A chunk of the boat, along with piles of splintered wood, littered the beach at Steccato di Cutro, part of Calabria’s coastline along the Ionian sea. Some of the survivors tried to keep warm, wrapped in what appeared to be colourful blankets or sheets.
A helicopter and motorboats were deployed in search efforts, including vessels from state firefighters, border police and the coastguard.
A coastguard motorboat rescued two men suffering from hypothermia and recovered the body of a boy in the rough seas, it said in a statement.
Firefighter boats, including rescue divers, recovered 28 bodies, including three pulled by a strong current far away from the wreckage. Italian news agency AGI said a baby was among the bodies.
Pope Francis told the faithful in St Peter’s Square: “I pray for each of them, for the missing and the other migrants who survived.”
He added he was also praying for the rescuers “and for those who give welcome” to the migrants.
It was not clear where the boat had set out from, but migrant vessels arriving in Calabria usually depart from Turkish or Egyptian shores. Another sea route employed by traffickers, considered among the deadliest, crosses the central Mediterranean from Libya’s coast, where migrants often endure brutal detention for months, before they can board dinghies or wooden fishing boats bound for Italy.