Yet another tragedy was reported in the Mediterranean on Sunday, December 18: a two-year-old died after being rescued by the Italian coast guard along with dozens of other migrants after their boat capsized about 10 nautical miles south of Lampedusa.

Doctors were able to resuscitate with a cardiac massage another child who had travelled on the same boat and who, like other passengers, was in serious condition after falling into the sea.

Some 43 migrants were rescued, all from northern Africa. Three people were reportedly treated for injuries at the clinic in Lampedusa.

Investigation into shipwreck, mayor talks about 'endless massacre'

The toddler, called Rokia, from the Ivory Coast, had left on Saturday night with her mother and 50 people from the Tunisian city of Sfax. The passengers reportedly paid 2,500 Tunisian dinars each for the crossing. The iron boat sank about 10 miles off the coast late on Sunday morning.

Prosecutors in Agrigento have opened an investigation into the incident against unknown suspects on charges of favouring illegal immigration and death, as a consequence of another crime. Police started questioning the boat's passengers to try to understand what happened and why the boat capsized, as well as to identify potential smugglers.

The mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Mannino, said the island is witnessing an "endless massacre" that is "devastating" because "it involves children".

"It's not that we don't suffer when adults die, but when it's about children, it is devastating," he said. He added that, since becoming mayor, he has done "nothing but welcome victims. And so many, 10 at least, have been children," he added.

161 people rescued off Lampedusa, Rise Above docks in Gioia Tauro

A boat adrift off Lampedusa with 161 people on board was rescued on Sunday night (December 18) by coast guards. The group included men from Syria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Egypt. According to the migrants on board, the fishing vessel left Zuwarah, in Libya, on Friday. Passengers from Bangladesh paid between 500 and 700,000 taka (national currency) while Ethiopians paid 3,000 dollars. They were all taken to a local hotspot in the Imbriacola district.

Moreover, on Sunday morning the migrant-rescue vessel Rise Above operated by German NGO Mission Life Line docked at the port of Gioia Tauro, in Calabria, with 27 rescuees on board, all Syrian citizens, including nine women, two children and an unaccompanied minor. The migrants were rescued in international waters while they were on a boat with a small outboard engine and they appear to be in good health, according to local sources.

After their arrival, they were visited by local physicians and tested for Covid before being transferred to a facility provided by the municipality of Gioia Tauro.

Sea Eye 4, Life Support expected to dock in Livorno

Meanwhile the Sea-Eye 4 rescue vessel with 108 migrants on board is expected to reach the Tuscan port of Livorno in the morning of December 23, according to the city's prefecture.

The prefecture is getting organized to host the passengers of the boat, the first of two vessels that will dock in Livorno after the Tuscan destination was identified as a safe port.

The NGO-run vessel Life Support with 142 migrants on board is also expected to reach Livorno. However, the local prefect Paolo D'Attilo said the situation is evolving so it is still unclear when the Life Support will be able to dock.

In addition, the composition of the 108 people on board the Sea Eye 4 is still unclear: how many women, men and children need hosting. The only certainty, local authorities said, is that migrants will disembark on a pier to be chosen in cooperation with port authorities.

Medical staff from Livorno's maritime health office USMAF will first visit migrants on board. After disembarking, migrants will be provided with food and clothes before they are identified by the immigration office of local police headquarters, authorities said. They will then be transferred by bus across the territory with only 10% of passengers remaining in Livorno and its province, they said.