Shipwreck off the coast of Italy leaves 11 dead and dozens missing

At least 11 people have died and more than 60 are missing in two shipwrecks off the southern coast of Italy, rescuers said.

German charity RESQSHIP said it rescued 51 people from a sinking wooden boat and found 10 bodies trapped on the lower deck near the island of Lampedusa on Monday.

In a separate incident the same day, more than 60 people were reported missing, including 26 believed to be children, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said.

UN agencies said the boats were carrying migrants departing from Libya and Türkiye.

According to RESQSHIP, survivors of the shipwreck near Lampedusa were handed over to the Italian coast guard and brought ashore on Monday morning, while those who died were being towed to the island.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children’s Agency UNICEF said in a joint statement the boat had departed from Libya and was carrying migrants from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The other shipwreck is located about 125 miles off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy, the agencies said.

The Italian coast guard said one of the 12 survivors died after leaving the ship.

MSF’s Shakilla Mohammadi said she heard from survivors that 66 people were missing, including at least 26 children, some just a few months old.

“The entire family from Afghanistan is presumed dead. They left Türkiye eight days ago and were submerged for three or four days. They told us they had no life jackets and some boats did not stop to help them,” she said in an inquest. declare.

The Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world.

According to United Nations data, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in these waters since 2014.