Italy’s coastguard discovered the body of one person following a migrant shipwreck off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, according to Ansa news agency. The search is still ongoing for two missing individuals. The coastguard managed to rescue 43 people and retrieve the body of a presumed minor after the incident, which occurred approximately 23 miles southwest of Lampedusa.
Survivors informed authorities that a total of 46 people were on board during the journey. Over the past few days, more than 2,000 individuals have arrived in Lampedusa after being rescued at sea by Italian patrol boats and NGO groups. The situation has been further complicated by strong winds around the island.
Due to the rough seas, a group of approximately 20 migrants have become stranded on the rocks, where their boat crashed on Friday evening, according to local media reports. These individuals are yet to be rescued by authorities.
On Saturday, NGO group Open Arms shared a video on social media platform X, showing their rescue boat being swept away by the wind as it was en route to the southern port of Brindisi with 199 migrants on board. “After days adrift at sea, they are now forced to face prohibitive marine weather conditions,” Open Arms stated, expressing dissatisfaction with the Italian government’s practice of assigning distant landing ports far from the rescue areas.
According to data from the interior ministry, Italy has witnessed approximately 92,000 migrant arrivals by sea this year, compared to 42,600 during the same period last year.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
