ROME: Ten migrants have died and dozens are feared missing following two tragic shipwrecks off Italy’s coast on Monday, according to a migrant rescue charity and the Italian coastguard.
ResQship, a German migrant rescue charity, reported recovering ten bodies on a wooden boat off the coast of Lampedusa. ResQship’s vessel, the Nadir, responded to the emergency and managed to rescue 51 people, two of whom were unconscious and had to be freed with an axe. “The rescue came too late for 10 people,” the charity posted on X (formerly Twitter). “A total of 61 people were on the wooden boat, which was full of water.”
The deceased migrants were found in the flooded lower deck of the vessel. The survivors are currently being cared for by ResQship’s crew.
In a separate incident, Italy’s coastguard has been conducting search operations off Calabria for people overboard following another shipwreck. Media reports indicate that up to 60 migrants are missing, based on accounts from survivors. The coastguard’s efforts began after receiving a “mayday” call from a French pleasure boat sailing off the Italian coast, which reported a half-sunken vessel.
The French boat managed to rescue 12 migrants, who were later transferred to an Italian coastguard vessel and brought to Roccella Ionica in southern Italy. Unfortunately, one of the survivors died after disembarking.
The ANSA news agency reported that around 50 migrants are missing from this shipwreck, while Radio Radicale estimated the number to be 64. The missing persons are believed to be from Afghanistan and Iran.
