2023-08-06 12:41:45
Two boats sank on Saturday off Lampedusa, according to the International Organization for Migration, leaving around 30 people missing.
Several migrants are missing after the sinking of two boats off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Saturday due to bad weather conditions, according to the testimony of a survivor, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Sunday. About 28 passengers from one of the boats and three from the second were lost at sea, IOM said.
The boats were small metal craft apparently departing Thursday from Sfax, Tunisia. After speaking with survivors, IOM officials estimate that “at least 30 people have disappeared”, press officer Flavio Di Giacomo told AFP. An investigation into the shipwrecks has been opened in Agrigento, Sicily.
“Those who allowed them to leave, or forced them to leave, are unscrupulous criminal lunatics.”
Agrigento police chief Emmanuele Ricifari, who is in charge of the investigation, stressed that bad weather was announced. “Those who allowed them to leave, or forced them to leave, are unscrupulous criminal lunatics,” he told Italian media. “A very rough sea is forecast for the coming days. Let’s hope that they will stop “to leave people, “by this sea, it is to send them to the slaughterhouse”, he added.
“Many bodies found”
While the bad weather persisted on Sunday, rescue teams were preparing to bring to safety about twenty migrants trapped in a rocky area from the coast of Lampedusa. The migrants have been there since Friday evening after strong winds dragged their boat onto the rocks. The Red Cross provided them with food, water, clothing and survival blankets, but the coastguards were unable to rescue them from the sea due to the height of the waves.
“There are a lot of shipwrecks that we never hear about.”
If the wind does not drop, rescuers will winch them up the 140-meter cliff, according to press reports. The Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Europe is the deadliest in the world. More than 1,800 people have died since the beginning of the year trying to borrow it, according to Mr. Di Giacomo. That’s almost 900 more than last year.
“The truth is that this figure is probably higher,” said the press officer. “Many bodies are found at sea, which suggests that there are many shipwrecks that we never hear about.” The number of bodies found at sea has increased, especially on what is called the Tunisian roadwhich has become increasingly dangerous due to the type of boats used, added Mr. Di Giacomo.
The smugglers put the sub-Saharan migrants to sea “on iron boats which cost less than the usual wooden boats but are totally unsuitable for navigation at sea, they break easily and sink”, he explained. And migrants often have to suffer the theft of the engines of their boats at sea so that smugglers can reuse them.
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