Dozens of refugees dead after two boats capsize in the middle of Mediterranean

 LAMPEDUSA - At least 26 people have died in a shipwreck about 14 nautical miles south of Lampedusa. Two boats carrying 97 people capsized, with 60 of them being rescued and brought ashore. However, the toll is “still provisional and being updated”, the Coast Guard revealed in a statement, Wednesday afternoon.

 Several migrants, more than 10, are still missing. Among the bodies recovered were those of a newborn baby, three teenagers (two boys and one girl), two adult men and two women.

 The search for the missing is still ongoing with the involvement of five vessels: two patrol boats of the Coast Guard, two patrol boats of the Finance Police and a Frontex naval unit. A Coast Guard helicopter and aircraft are also operating at the scene, as well as a Frontex aircraft. The search and rescue operations were launched following a report from a Finance Police helicopter that spotted an overturned boat with migrants in the sea and several bodies at around 11.30 a.m.

 The 60 shipwrecked people who landed on the island have already been transferred to the hotspot in Contrada Imbriacola and, with the help of cultural mediators, are beginning to recount what happened. Doctors, psychologists and operators from the EUAA (European Union Agency for Asylum) are examining the survivors and there do not appear to be any health emergencies. The Red Cross reports that among the 60 shipwrecked people rescued, there are 56 men and 4 women.

 According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 370 people have died and 300 are missing on the central Mediterranean migrant route since the beginning of the year until August 9.

 “When a tragedy such as today's occurs, with the death of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, we all feel a strong sense of dismay and compassion,” said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “And we find ourselves measuring the inhuman cynicism with which human traffickers organise these shady journeys. Together with our deep sorrow for the victims and pity for those who have lost their lives, we therefore renew our commitment to combat these unscrupulous traffickers in the only way possible: by preventing irregular departures and managing migration flows,” she added.

 For the Prime Minister, “the fact that today's tragedy occurred despite an international mechanism being in place and operational warns us that the necessary rescue intervention is not a sufficient measure and, above all, does not solve the causes of this dramatic problem,” she concluded.

 The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, echoed this sentiment: “This tragic episode confirms, once again, the urgent need to prevent dangerous sea voyages from the territories of departure and to fight relentlessly against the ruthless profiteering of human traffickers who fuel this phenomenon.”

 Nicola Fratoianni of AVS, on the other hand, blamed the government: “Go ahead and continue not to organise a search and rescue service in the central Mediterranean by European and Italian institutions. Go ahead and continue to criminalise NGOs that save human beings, and go ahead and continue to send their boats to disembark rescued shipwrecked people in the most distant ports possible. Go ahead and continue to protect and fund Libyan traffickers. Go ahead and continue to boast about fake statistics on preventing migrant landings. Go ahead and do all this, Meloni government, but tonight when you go home, avoid looking in the mirror and avoid playing with your children. Because today's deaths off the coast of Lampedusa are also on your conscience,” said the leader of Sinistra Italiana.

rs