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Italy migrant shipwreck toll at 34 as more bodies found

Italy's coastguard said Friday it had found another 14 bodies after a migrant shipwreck off the southern coast earlier this week, taking the confirmed death toll to 34.

Published: 22 June 2024 11:12 CEST

A woman arrives for a memorial service for members of an Iraqi Kurdish family (L) who died at sea in a migrant boat off the coast of Italy, in Erbil, Iraq,

A woman arrives for a memorial service for members of an Iraqi Kurdish family (L) who died at sea in a migrant boat off the coast of Italy, in Erbil, Iraq, on June 19, 2024. Italy's coastguard said a total of 34 bodies had been found since the boat sank off the coast of Calabria overnight on June 16-17. (Photo by Safin HAMID / AFP)

More than 60 people had been reported missing after the sailing boat sank off the coast of Calabria overnight Sunday-Monday, with 11 people rescued.

“Today 14 bodies were recovered.. a total of 34 bodies have been recovered,” the coastguard said in a statement.

It said air and sea searches continued for the missing.

The coastguard had on Thursday reported another 12 bodies had been found, including women and children.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said earlier this week that survivors had reported 66 people missing, including at least 26 children.

They had set off from Turkey and sank around 120 nautical miles off the coast of Calabria. Afghan families were among the missing, MSF said.

Ten bodies were found in a separate shipwrecked migrant boat on Monday off the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to German aid group ResQship.

Some 3,155 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean last year, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

More than 1,000 have died or are missing so far this year.

The Central Mediterranean — the area between North Africa and Italy and Malta — is the deadliest known migration route in the world, accounting for 80 percent of the deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean.

Many migrants set off by boat from Tunisia or Libya, with Italy often their first port of call.

Arrivals have dropped considerably this year, with almost 24,500 people landing in Italy so far, compared to more than 58,600 in the same period in 2023, according to the interior ministry.

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Search for dozens feared missing after deadly migrant shipwrecks off Italy

With up to 60 migrants potentially lost at sea, the coastguard said it has been looking for “possible missing persons” since late Sunday, “following the shipwreck of a sailing boat with migrants on board, presumably departing from Turkey”.

Rescue efforts began after “a ‘mayday’ from a French pleasure boat” some 120 nautical miles off the Italian coast, it said.

The French vessel alerted authorities to “the presence of the half-sunken boat”, before taking 12 surviving migrants on board.

They were then transferred to an Italian coastguard boat, which took them to the town of Roccella Ionica in southern Italy.

One of the surviving 12 died after disembarking, the coastguard said.

Around 50 migrants were missing following the shipwreck, according to ANSA news agency, while Radio Radicale put the number at 64, adding that those lost at sea were from Afghanistan and Iran.

READ ALSO: Charity warns Italy’s ban on migrant rescue planes risks lives

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it was providing “psychological assistance to all survivors”.

The team had “supported first aid activities for 12 people, including a woman who died shortly after disembarkation due to her severe medical condition”, it said.

Flooded lower deck

Further south, rescuers coming to the aid of migrants on a wooden boat off the Italian island of Lampedusa found 10 bodies below deck, the German aid group ResQship posted on X Monday.

The crew of ResQship’s vessel, the Nadir, managed to pull 51 people to safety.

“The rescue came too late for 10 people,” the German charity said.

“A total of 61 people were on the wooden boat, which was full of water. Our crew was able to evacuate 51 people, two of whom were unconscious — they had to be cut free with an axe,” it said.

“The 10 dead are in the flooded lower deck of the boat,” it added.

The survivors hailed from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria, according to ANSA, which said they had paid around $3,500 to travel in the eight-metre (26-foot) long boat.

READ ALSO: Italy approves controversial Albanian migrant deal

More than 3,150 migrants died or disappeared in the Mediterranean last year, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

The Central Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world, representing 80 percent of the deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean sea.

It is widely used by migrants fleeing conflict or poverty, who set off from Tunisia or Libya by boat in bids to enter the European Union via Italy.

Tough choice

The EU recently adopted a vast reform toughening immigration control at its borders.

And since coming to power in 2022, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to dramatically slash the number of people crossing by boat from the coast of North Africa.

Rome has brought in a slew of rules to curb the activities of charity ships accused of being a pull factor for migrants – from limiting the number of rescues to assigning them distant ports.

Under a law adopted at the start of 2023, charity ships are obliged to travel “without delay” to port as soon as their first rescue is complete – even if they become aware of other migrants in difficulty.

In recent months, the Italian coastguard has assigned increasingly distant ports to ships, sometimes in difficult weather conditions, to the detriment of vulnerable migrants’ physical and mental health.

Charity crews face a tough choice: comply with the Italian authorities by leaving migrant boats adrift despite the risk that people could die, or disobey and face having their ships impounded.

Arrivals by sea to Italy have dropped considerably since the start of the year, with some 23,725 people landing so far, compared to 53,902 in the same period in 2023, according to the interior ministry.

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