At least 26 migrants have died and around ten are still missing after two boats overturned in the central Mediterranean on Wednesday, August 13th, humanitarian agencies confirmed. Around 60 people survived the disaster, which took place on one of the world’s most dangerous migrant sea routes.
The Italian Red Cross, which operates the migrant reception center on the island of Lampedusa, reported that 56 men and four women were rescued.
According to survivors’ accounts reported by Italian news agency ANSA, one of the boats began capsizing, prompting some migrants to climb onto the other vessel. This caused the second boat to become overloaded and take on water.
The bodies of a newborn, three children, two men, and two women were among the first brought to the Lampedusa mortuary, ANSA said.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed the shipwreck, saying it occurred 14 nautical miles from Lampedusa. Various reports estimate that about 97 migrants were on the two boats.
“When a tragedy like today’s occurs, with the deaths of dozens of people in the waters of the Mediterranean, a strong sense of dismay and compassion arises in all of us,” Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said in a statement. “And we find ourselves contemplating the inhumane cynicism with which human traffickers organize these sinister journeys.”
The UNHCR said that 675 migrant deaths have been recorded on the central Mediterranean route so far this year. According to Italy’s interior ministry, 38,263 migrants have arrived on the country’s shores since January.
