On Wednesday (June 19), coast guard officers participating in a search for missing migrants from the shipwreck off the coast of Calabria – which happened on Monday – found three more bodies near the site of the sinking, reported the Italian news agency ANSA.

Rescuers had previously recovered three bodies, reported the news agency, bringing the total recovered to six dead and 11 survivors. A twelfth person, a young woman, was recovered from the boat by coast guard officers, but she died shortly after arrival on land.

That leaves at least 60 still missing, reports the Italian news agency Agenzia Nova. Survivors say that the missing include 26 children. Some reportedly tried to cling to pieces of wreckage as the ship went down, reported the Italian state broadcaster Rai.

At least 26 children thought to be among those missing

The sailing yacht the migrants were traveling on is thought to have sunk after an explosion on board, around 120 miles off the coast of Calabria. The boat is believed to have departed from Turkey.

The Italian coast guard sent out search parties and other boats in the area joined the search.

Prosecutors say that the majority of those on board come from Iraq, Syria and Iran. A cultural mediator working for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Shakilla Mohammadi, said that she had spoken to a young man on board who said that his girlfriend had died on the ship. "The survivors told me that at least 66 people are missing, among them at least 26 children, some just a few months old. Entire families from Afghanistan are thought to have died," said Mohammadi.

Mohammadi was present in Roccella Ionica as the survivors were brought ashore, along with her colleagues from MSF. "The scenes we saw were heartbreaking. We saw so many traumatized people, the pain was so palpable."

'News of the shipwreck is a punch in the stomach'

The leader of Italy’s opposition party PD (Partito Democratico) Elly Schlein said on Wednesday that the "silence from the government over the migrant shipwreck is deafening."

However, the president of the Calabria region, Roberto Occhiuto, who is from one of the ruling coalition parties, Forza Italia, did speak out about the shipwreck to Rai on Tuesday (June 18).

"The news of the shipwreck is a punch in the stomach," said Occhiuto. "This touches everyone in the region. It reminds us of the tragedy off the coast of Cutro a little over a year ago. I thank all the people who helped with the rescue and offered support to the survivors who we managed to bring back to Roccella Jonica. We pray too for the woman who tragically died just after the attempt to save her."

Occhiuto mentioned that the Turkish route, which seems to be the route by which the migrants arrived, "has often been ignored and needs to be looked at more carefully on the European level." He emphasized that the seas should be full of life and hope, not periodically transformed into huge cemeteries.

Nadir rescue operation: Migrants drowned and suffocated

On the same day that the shipwreck off Calabria was taking place, the private rescue ship Nadir, operated by the NGO Resqschip, rescued 55 people, but also found ten bodies on board an eight-meter-long boat.

The bodies, reported Rai, were all men. Rescuers suspect they may have come originally from Bangladesh or Pakistan as they looked like South Asians. Their identities and countries of origin have not yet been ascertained, however.

The crew of Nadir said they had to use an axe to access all the areas of the boat and check that they had got everyone off the boa, when they found it at sea, reported Rai.

"The crew from the Nadir came across the crowded wooden boat about 50 miles south-east of Lampedusa, in the Maltese Search and Rescue zone. We saved all the people on the upper decks, and only then were we able to reach the lower decks. At that point we discovered the dead bodies. We believe they suffocated from fuel fumes, or lost consciousness because of that and then drowned in the hull," said Ingo Werth, the captain of the Nadir.

Arrivals in Italy

Survivors told the rescuers that they had departed from the port of Zuwara in Libya two days before. At least half of those on board come originally from Bangladesh, with the other half from Pakistan, Syria or Egypt. Survivors said they had each paid around 3,500 dollars (3,263 euros) to board the boat, reported Rai.

While the two shipwrecks were taking place, another three boats managed to arrive on the small Sicilian satellite island of Lampedusa, with a total of 173 migrants on board.

According to statistics published by the Italian interior ministry and last updated on the morning of June 20, 41 people arrived on Thursday morning, 194 people on June 19 and 77 people on June 18.

The majority of those arriving so far this year are from Bangladesh. Since the beginning of the year, 24,290 have arrived on the Italian coast by boat.