At least 40 migrants, including a newborn baby, died this Sunday when the boat they were traveling in sank off the coast of Calabria, in southern Italy, according to a new balance released by RAI television.
The Italian station reported that there are several children among the fatalities.
About 50 survivors have so far been rescued from the beachbut many people are missing, so the authorities fear the balance could rise.
Some Italian media reported that there were between 150 and 250 people on the sunken boat.
Survivors told authorities the precarious fishing boat they were traveling on broke in two and many of its passengers fell into the water, as the sea was rough.
The boat apparently hit the rocks before the migrants could call for help, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.
The recovered bodies, including a newborn baby and several children, washed up on the tourist beach of Steccato and are scattered over several kilometers, according to the Carabinieri (Italian militarized police).
As rescue efforts continue, authorities are questioning survivors to determine the circumstances of the accident and the origin of the migrants.
Local press reported that most are from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The tragedy comes three days after Italy’s parliament approved a new migration decree drafted by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government on Thursday.
The regulation requires, among other things, to request the allocation of a port after the first rescue of a group of migrants and to go to that location without deviating to locate other ships in distress.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have repeatedly complained that Italian authorities have allocated distant ports in northern and central Italy that take up to four or five days to arrive.
These movements lead NGOs to neglect their activities in the Central Mediterranean, where most shipwrecks of this type of vessel occur.
Source: DN
