11 people die and dozens go missing after two shipwrecks in Italy
At least 11 people have died and others are missing after two shipwrecks carrying migrants off the coast of Italy.
It comes after a rescue shop run by a German aid group rushed to help 51 people, thought to be migrants, after their vessel got into trouble near the island of Lampedusa.
Two of the rescued were unconscious while ten bodies were found trapped on the wooden ship’s lower deck, Sky News reports citing the REQSHIP group.
The migrants were from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh, UN agencies said in a joint statement.
REQSHIP’s boat called Nadir is towing the wooden boat to Lampedusa with the bodies of the deceased trapped inside, Reuters said.
Another boat sank around 125 miles east of the southern Italian region of Calabria after it caught on fire and overturned on Sunday.
It had set off from Turkey eight days earlier on a grueling journey across the Mediterranean, according to the outlet citing UN agencies.
One person died and a search in the area was launched following the rescue of 12 people, the Italian coastguard said on X (formerly Twitter).
But 64 are missing at sea, according to the coastguard.
It said in a post on Monday: ‘Since last night the Coast Guard has been engaged in the search for any missing persons, following the shipwreck of a sailing boat with migrants on board, which presumably left Turkey.’
The migrants involved in the second shipwreck were from Iran, Syria and Iraq.
The rescue operation involving authorities from Greece, Italy and the EU border agency Frontex were involved after a may-day distress call by a French vessel which had spotted the ‘half-sunken’ boat.
The sea route across the Mediterranean is one of the deadliest stretches to cross for migrants.
The number of lives lost in the Mediterranean has increased from 2,048 in 2021 to 3,041 by the end of last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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