At least 20 dead in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa
"Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing," wrote the agency's spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media.
Italian news agency Radio Radicale said the boat had been carrying 97 people when it shipwrecked 14 miles southwest of Lampedusa.
Details remained sketchy but Save the Children Italy said that a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appeared to be lost in the shipwreck.
Read More: Aid queues turn deadly as 73 killed in Gaza in one day
RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, and said that 60 survivors had been transported to safety on the island.
The boat, which had already overturned, was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy's financial police, it said.
Migrants heading to Italy from North Africa often cross in leaky or overcrowded boats via the central Mediterranean route, one of the world's deadliest, and arrive in Lampedusa.
The UNHCR said Wednesday there have been 675 migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route so far this year.
As of Wednesday, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italy's shores this year, according to the interior ministry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
26 migrants dead in two shipwrecks off Italy
At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island on Wednesday. Photo REUTERS At least 26 migrants died Wednesday when two boats sank off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa island, with around 10 others still missing, the coastguard and UN officials said. Around 60 people were rescued after the sinkings in the central Mediterranean, a stretch between North Africa and Italy described by the UN as the world's most dangerous sea crossing for migrants. The two boats had left Tripoli, Libya, earlier in the day, according to the Italian coastguard. It said one of the boats started taking on water, causing people to climb onto the other boat, which itself then capsized. "Currently 60 people have been rescued and disembarked in Lampedusa, and (there are) at least 26 victims. The toll is still provisional and being updated," the coastguard said in a statement. Italy's Red Cross, which manages Lampedusa's migrant reception centre, said the survivors included 56 men and four women, updating a previous toll of 22 dead. Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the UN's migration agency (IOM), said around 95 people had been on the two boats. Given how many had been saved, "approximately 35 victims are feared dead or missing", he wrote on social media. Among the first to be transported to the Lampedusa mortuary were the bodies of a newborn, three children, two men and two women, according to Italy's ANSA news agency. Lampedusa, just 90 miles (145 kilometres) off the coast of Tunisia, is often the first port of call for people trying to reach Europe in leaky or overcrowded boats. In recent years, Italian authorities have sought to intercept the boats at sea before they arrive. It was a helicopter from Italy's financial police that spotted a capsized boat and several bodies in the water on Wednesday, about 14 nautical miles off Lampedusa, the coastguard said. Five vessels were searching for survivors, including one from the EU's Frontex border agency, alongside a helicopter and two aircraft, it said. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her "deepest condolences" to the victims and vowed to step up efforts to tackle migrant traffickers.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
At least 20 dead in shipwreck off Italy's Lampedusa
At least 20 migrants died after a boat overturned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, with many more still missing, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said. "Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing," wrote the agency's spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media. Italian news agency Radio Radicale said the boat had been carrying 97 people when it shipwrecked 14 miles southwest of Lampedusa. Details remained sketchy but Save the Children Italy said that a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appeared to be lost in the shipwreck. Read More: Aid queues turn deadly as 73 killed in Gaza in one day RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, and said that 60 survivors had been transported to safety on the island. The boat, which had already overturned, was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy's financial police, it said. Migrants heading to Italy from North Africa often cross in leaky or overcrowded boats via the central Mediterranean route, one of the world's deadliest, and arrive in Lampedusa. The UNHCR said Wednesday there have been 675 migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route so far this year. As of Wednesday, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italy's shores this year, according to the interior ministry.
Express Tribune
04-08-2025
- Express Tribune
Yemen shipwreck death toll tops 76
At least 76 people were killed and dozens are missing after a boat carrying mostly Ethiopian migrants sank off Yemen, in the latest tragedy on the perilous sea route, officials told AFP Monday. Yemeni security officials said 76 bodies had been recovered and 32 people rescued from the shipwreck in the Gulf of Aden. The UN migration agency said 157 people were on board. Sunday's incident was "one of the deadliest" migrant shipwrecks off Yemen this year, Abdusattor Esoev, the International Organization for Migration's chief of mission for Yemen, told AFP. The ship was headed to Abyan governorate in southern Yemen, a frequent destination for boats smuggling African migrants hoping to reach the wealthy Gulf states. Some of those rescued have been transferred to Yemen's Aden, near Abyan, a security official said. The UN agency earlier gave a toll of at least 68 dead, with Esoev telling AFP that "the fate of the missing is still unknown".
