LAMPEDUSA (Italy): A total of 41 people lost their lives in a fatal migrant shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa, reported CNN on Wednesday. According to the survivors, the people were trying to cross the dangerous sea from North Africa to Europe.
The survivors further told the Red Cross that the migrant boat left Stax in Tunisia several days ago. However, they were also wearing life jackets and were able to crawl on the remnants of a different shipwrecked boat, according to the Red Cross.
Moreover, the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that it shifted the survivors to Lampedusa after they were rescued by a private vessel. However, it was still unsure how many people were on board during the incident, reported CNN.
Both were rickety iron boats believed to have set off from Sfax in Tunisia on Thursday. One was carrying 48 people, the second 42, the Italian news agency ANSA reported, as cited by Al Jazeera.
The Red Cross has given them food, drink, clothes and emergency thermal blankets, but, because of the high waves, the Coast Guard has been unable to save them at sea.
The Central Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Europe is the most dangerous passage in the world, Al Jazeera reported. As of Tuesday, 93,754 people have arrived in Italy by boat this year, a sharp increase from 2022, according to the Italian government.
Lampedusa is the closest Italian island to Africa and is a major destination for migrants seeking to enter European Union countries, according to CNN. This incident is the latest in a string of tragedies occurring off Lampedusa.
Earlier, on Sunday, three bodies were found, including that of a three-year-old and a pregnant woman, after two migrant boats sank off the Island nation, reported the 5the Italian Coast Guard according to CNN. (ANI)