The boat, which contained between 150 and 250 people on board, would have “broken in two” by hitting rocks, according to the Italian news agency ac.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
This is a new drama that took place in the Mediterranean Sea. More than 31 migrants, including a few months old, died Sunday, February 26, following the sinking of their boat at dawn, at Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort in the province of Crotone, in Calabria ( south), report the Italian media.
The Italian firefighters confirmed that they had drafted 28 bodies, while three others were allegedly trained further by sea currents. The boat contained between 150 and 250 people, according to Italian media. Forty people have been rescued, according to firefighters.
According to the AGA news agency, the boat, overloaded, broke in two by hitting rocks due to the bustle of the sea. Among the victims is in particular a “infant of a few months “, according to the same source citing a firefighter who participates in the aid. According to the DNKronos news agency, a hundred people from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan were on board the boat. Questioned by the France-Presse agency, the Italian coast guards did not respond immediately.
“Dozens and dozens of drowned deaths, including children, many missing. Calabria is in mourning for this terrible tragedy,” reacted in a statement Roberto Occhiuto, president of the region, at the end of the morning.
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This shipwreck occurs just a few days after the adoption, by the Italian Parliament, of new controversial rules on the rescue of migrants at sea, emanating from the coalition government dominated by the extreme right and directed since October by Giorgia Meloni . The latter had promised, once she would have accessed power, to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy.
The new law obliges humanitarian ships to perform a single rescue at a time, which, according to criticism, increases the risk of death during the crossing of the central Mediterranean, considered as the most perilous road in the world For migrants.
The Italian government accuses NGOs of increasing, by their action, the arrivals of migrants in Italy and of encouraging traffickers to organize them. However, these only rescue a small percentage of migrants wishing to arrive in Europe, most rescue operations being carried out by coastal or naval ships.
“People at sea must be saved whatever the cost, without penalizing those who help them,” reacted Sunday On Twitter Carlo Calenda, ex-minister and leader of the Azione centrist party, facing the drama that occurred in the morning.
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The geographic location of Italy makes the country a destination of choice for asylum seekers who leave Africa from the Africa North for Europe. Rome has long complained about the number of arrivals on its territory, believing that they do not have the means to face it, despite the material and financial aid provided by the European Union.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, nearly 14,000 migrants have landed on the coasts of Italy since the start of 2023, against around 5,200 during the same period last year and 4,200 A total of in 2021.
The bodies of eight people, including a pregnant woman, were previously discovered aboard a boat around the Italian Island of Lampedusa, Friday, February 3.