Rome: There was a stir in Italy when two ships suddenly sank in the sea. Yes, at least 11 migrants died after two ships sank in the sea near Italy, while 66 others are missing. It is feared that they too may have died. According to media reports, the Italian Coast Guard continued the search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea till late Monday night, a few hours after some malfunction occurred in the migrant boats. A merchant ship first made an SOS call after seeing the boat in distress about 120 miles (193 km) off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy, after which the rescue operation was launched.
The merchant ship rescued 12 people and assisted them until the Italian Coast Guard ship arrived. According to the Coast Guard, a woman died soon after disembarking from the ship, she was very ill. The Coast Guard said in a statement that the search for survivors continued after the boat sank. The Coast Guard said that two Italian patrol boats and an ATR42 aircraft are involved in the search and soon another patrol ship with medical teams will join the search operation. No other survivors were found till late Monday evening.
According to local media, 26 of the 66 people feared dead are minors. According to survivors’ statements, the boat left Turkey last week, carrying migrants and refugees from Iraq, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. Italian authorities have launched an investigation. The boat was trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Earlier in an incident, a rescue ship with German aid group Rescueship found 10 migrants dead and managed to rescue 51 others on a boat stranded in distress near Malta, off Italy’s southernmost island Lampedusa.
According to local media, the survivors were mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria. The Italian Interior Ministry had ordered the ship to dock in Lampedusa. Migrants traveling by boat through the Mediterranean face such dangerous conditions due to weather conditions and poor quality ships. According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, so far this year, about a thousand people have died or gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean. In 2023, 3,155 people went missing.
Tags: Boat Accident, World news
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 18, 2024, 08:14 IST