A wooden sailing boat, believed to be carrying more than 100 migrants, broke apart off the southern Italian coast, killing at least 59 people, including 12 children, local authorities have said.
The incident took place near the coastal town of Crotone in the Calabria region in the early hours of Sunday amid bad weather conditions.
This photo obtained from Italian news agency Ansa, taken on February 26, 2023 shows rescued migrants (L and C) wrapped in a blanket, and rescuers (R) in Steccato di Cutro, south of Crotone, after their boat sank off Italy's southern Calabria region
© AFP 2023 / STRINGER
Survivors claimed that up to 150 people from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan were on board the vessel, thought to have left Turkey four days ago. Some media reports put the figure at 200. An Italian media outlet reported that a Turkish national has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking.
The authorities have meanwhile said that around 80 people were saved from the water, but that the death toll from the boat wreck is almost certain to increase.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, for her part, pointed the finger at human traffickers, saying that "it is criminal to launch a boat just 20 meters long with 200 people on board in adverse weather." She added that "it is inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the price of a ticket under the false perspective of a safe journey."
Meloni was echoed by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who stressed that the "umpteenth tragedy in the Mediterranean shouldn’t leave anyone indifferent." He called on the EU to "finally take concrete responsibility for governing the phenomenon of migration in order to rescue it from human traffickers."
Over 100,000 refugees entered Italy by boat in 2022, using the so-called central Mediterranean route, known to be as one of the world’s most dangerous.