Rescuers report a grim toll from two shipwrecks off southern Italy, with at least 11 fatalities and over 60 individuals missing.
A German charity, RESQSHIP, retrieved 51 people from a sinking wooden vessel near Lampedusa on Monday, discovering 10 bodies trapped in the lower deck.
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports that more than 60 people, including 26 children, are unaccounted for in a separate incident.
The migrants on board originated from Libya and Turkey, according to UN agencies.
Survivors from the Lampedusa shipwreck were transferred to the Italian coastguard, while the deceased were being brought to the island.
The boat from Libya carried migrants from various countries like Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as confirmed by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UNICEF.
The second shipwreck occurred approximately 125 miles off Calabria’s coast in southern Italy. The Italian coastguard mentioned that one of the 12 survivors died after disembarking.
Shakilla Mohammadi of MSF shared survivors’ accounts indicating that 66 people, including 26 children and infants, are missing, with whole families from Afghanistan presumed deceased.
These migrants embarked from Turkey eight days earlier, facing water intake for several days without life vests and lacking assistance from passing vessels.
The Mediterranean continues to be the deadliest migration route globally, with over 23,500 deaths or disappearances since 2014, according to UN figures.
Source-BBC
