The investigation continued on Thursday to try to find migrants or the bodies of many people who were still missing after a sinking that left at least 27 dead on the coast of Lampedusa. In the small Italian island, in the cemetery where the bodies of certain victims are preserved, two women came to put flowers.
“The least we can do is come and say a prayer for these people who were looking for a better life, they did nothing and have died,” said one of them called Donata.
Three minors that include a newborn
Among the bodies of 23 of the inspected victims to be identified, the authorities told 13 men, 7 women and three minors, including a newborn baby. The Coast Guard has extended the perimeter of his investigation, which will last until Sunday.
The spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IIM), Flavio Di Giacomo, reported on Wednesday about 95 people in Libya in two ships, “but the Italian press agency Ansa mentions between 100 and 110 people. Therefore, there could be up to 23 missing.
These migrants would have begun from the surroundings of Tripoli at dawn on Wednesday, but after one of the two ships “took the water”, the passengers “got on the other, which overturned under the load,” said Flavio Di Giacomo.
A vigil of the organized torch spike
During the night, around fifty people gathered for a torch vigil in the Sanctuary of Salvo Madonna Di Porto, in tribute to migrants who lost their lives on Wednesday.
“The arrivals of the migrants continue (…) Our arms are always open, but when these dead occur, it hurts too much,” said Angela, a resident of Lampedusa who participated in the vigil.
In a video broadcast on Thursday night by the Italian coastal guard, we see a ship of rescuers who throw a buoy to young migrants in the waves and that they are desperately grouped there. There are 60 survivors, including 21 minors, said Red Cross officials and the migrant reception center in Lampedusa.
The director of the center, Imad Dalil, said that 58 of the survivors are “healthy”, while two others were evacuated by helicopter in Sicily to be treated. Most of them are Somalis and some Egyptians.
Among them, a Somali lost his son and his husband, according to a testimony collected by the newspaper Il Corriere della. “I had my son in my arms and my husband by my side. I don’t know how, we were in the water. The waves took them,” he said.
Overloaded or poor condition ships
People trying to reach Italy by Lampedusa, located only 145 km from the North Africa coast, often cross the condition overloaded or poor.
The maritime road to the center of the Mediterranean is the most dangerous in the world for migrants, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “More than 700 refugees and migrants died in 2025 in the Central Mediterranean,” deplored in X the head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (ACNUR), Filippo Grandi.
In spite of the mortal shipwrecks, the boats continue to arrive day after day: another four were intercepted outside Lampedusa on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, and on Thursday night, forty people landed in the port of Lampedusa. According to the Red Cross, Libya and Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh left. The reception center currently houses 240 migrants, according to its director IMAD Dalil.
The government of the extreme right of Giorgia Meloni, who came to power in October 2022 by promising to stop the arrivals of migrants, has approved agreements with countries in North Africa, bringing funds and training against the aid to fight against the game of boats to Italy.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 38,500 people arrived in Italy this year per sea.
Source: BFM TV
