At least five people died after an unseaworthy fishing boat carrying migrants overturned just off the coast of western Sicily, throwing those on board into the water. The boat had set out from Tunisia.
At least five people lost their lives at sea after a fishing boat carrying dozens of migrants shipwrecked off the Sicilian coast.
The bodies of the five men were recovered on Saturday morning (October 28) from a beach on Sicily's Marinella di Selinunte – close to the city of Trapani.
Rescue services including the coastguard and police task forces continued to search for any survivors on Sunday, with about 20 persons still believed to be missing. Thirty-five other men survived the shipwreck and were identified after reaching small towns nearby, according to the Italian Coast Guard. The cause of the sinking remained unclear.
"According to survivors' accounts the boat departed from Tunisia on Thursday night with about 60 people onboard," said rescue coordinator Captain Daniele Governale of the Palermo Coast Guard team.
"That would leave about 20 people missing. But considering that wide searches at sea, also conducted by divers, for now gave no results, we have good hopes that some of them have survived and landed," Governale added.
Deadly Mediterranean route sees rise in migrant crossings
The number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean – one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world – has surged sharply this year.
The Italian interior ministry has already counted almost 142,400 people who reached Italy by boat so far in 2023. In the same period last year, the figure was around 82,100 as of October 27.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 2,500 people have died or gone missing during the crossing since the beginning of 2023.
With AP and dpa