At Least 11 Migrants Dead, Several Others Missing In Two Shipwrecks Off Italian Coast

At least 11 migrants died while another 66 remain missing in two shipwrecks off the Italian coasts on Tuesday. The Italian authorities said, a search and rescue operation by coast guard is going on in the Mediterranean hours after two migrant boats encountered problems near the Italian coasts. 

A merchant ship in the area conducted the initial rescue after launching an SOS call as it discovered a wooden sailboat in distress some 200 km off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy. The merchant ship rescued 12 people.



According to the survivors’ statement, the sailing boat departed from Turkey last week, carrying migrants and refuge seekers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan.

In another incident, a rescue ship with the German aid group Resqship found 10 migrants dead and managed to save 51 others on board a boat in distress off the waters of Malta, not far from Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island. Reports said, the survivors were mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria.