A migrant boat breaks up off the coast of Italy ,Dozens dead, 80 alive

ROME (AP) – At least 43 migrants died as overcrowded wooden boats crashed into rocks before sunrise on Sunday, leaving southern Italy, the Italian coast guard said. Reports said survivors said dozens more may be missing.

“So far, 80 people have been brought back alive, some of whom have made it to shore after the shipwreck. Forty-three bodies have been found along the coast,” the Coast Guard said in a statement issued just before noon.

Italian state television later reported that his 45 bodies, covered in cloth, were taken to a sports stadium in the nearest town of Crotone. There were also varying estimates of the number of people on the boat when it crashed into the reef in violently turbulent waters. Some of the debris landed on a stretch of beach on Calabria’s Ionian coast, where splinted light blue pieces of wood littered the sand like matches.

State television reported from the village of Stekturtdiktro, citing a survivor’s testimony that she left Turkey five days ago with a boat carrying more than 200 passengers on her.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said about 200 migrants were crammed into a 20-meter boat.

The Italian Coast Guard, which coordinated the rescue, is said to have had about 120 migrants on board. Two water rescuers from the fire brigade had to contend with gusts of wind and one-meter-high waves as they landed the body.

A local priest said he blessed the body while it was still on the beach.

The survivors were detained for questioning after they claimed they were traffickers, state television Lai said.

In a statement issued by the prime minister’s office, Meloni “expressed deep sorrow at the many lives taken by human traffickers”.


She vowed to crack down on departures arranged by smugglers and urge other European Union leaders to help search for Italy.

Some survivors were wrapped in blankets and quilts and taken by bus to makeshift shelters. Twenty-two survivors were taken to hospital for treatment, state television said.

A Coast Guard motorboat rescued two men suffering from hypothermia and recovered the body of a boy in rough waters, the agency said in a statement.A fireboat containing rescue divers was wrecked by strong currents. Twenty-eight bodies were recovered, including three who were dragged far from the ship.

Italian news reports said the dead included an 8-year-old boy and a few months old baby.

Pope Francis lamented on Sunday that children were among the shipwreck victims. The Meloni government has focused on thwarting efforts by humanitarian vessels to carry out multiple rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, allocating disembarkation ports along Italy’s northern coast to prevent ships from entering the sea. It just means it’s taking longer to get back. Landed safely.

Humanitarian organizations said the raid included instructions to charity boats not to stay at sea after the initial rescue effort in hopes of conducting further rescue operations, but to proceed immediately to their assigned safe haven. Violators face hefty fines and confiscation of rescue vessels.

For years, Italy has lashed out at other EU member states refusing to accept some of its migrants, many of whom are trying to find families and jobs in northern Europe.