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| Europe |
| Over 50 migrants dead in boat wreck off coast of Italy |
| 2023-02-27 |
| [Rudaw] Over 50 Italia’s state channel Rai News reported said that 80 people were rescued while 59 corpses were found along the shore, including 33 women and 12 children. It added that the overloaded boat broke in two in the It is unclear where the boat originated from but local news reports suggest that the boat left the Many others are still missing and the corpse count is expected to rise. The survivors of the tragic boat wreck are reportedly all under the age of 30, with 21 of them hospitalized. Those in stable, pH balanced conditions are being sheltered at an asylum seeker center. Italia’s rescue services said that the alarm was sound in the early hours of the day, with rescue efforts still underway. Video footage of the wreckage shows parts of the boat being washed up along the shore as survivors wrap themselves in blankets. "There had been landings but never a tragedy like this," mayor of Cutro, Antonio Ceraso, told Rai. "The sea keeps returning the bodies, it is something you would never want to see", he added. One of the survivors told Italian media that a kaboom on board had caused the boat to snap in two, adding that some of the corpses have burns on them. The claims have not been confirmed. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her "deep sorrow" for the incident, blaming the tragedy on smugglers. Meloni was elected last year mainly due to her pledge to contain the flow of "It is criminal to put a boat that is barely 20 metres long out to sea with as many as 200 people on board and with bad weather forecast," she said in a statement. Just a few days before, Meloni’s right-wing government pushed through parliament a new law on rescuing What is the benefit of such a law? The route in the Mediterranean Sea is considered to be the most perilous journey for those seeking asylum in Europe. A large number of those fleeing poverty and war cross from Africa and the Middle East via Italia in hopes for a better life on the European continent. A large proportion of people fleeing conflict and poverty, for what they hope will be a better life in Europe, cross from Africa via Italia. According to the interior ministry, nearly 14,000 Charities rescuing people in difficulty at sea bring only a fraction of Most of those who are rescued are plucked from the treacherous seas by coastiess or the navy. Despite this, the government in Rome accuses rescue charities of encouraging Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the latest disaster "shows how absolutely necessary it is to staunchly combat illegal immigration". Centrist former economy minister Carlo Calenda reacted on Twitter: "People in difficulty at sea should be rescued, whatever the cost, without penalising those trying to help them." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 I must have missed something. When did Italy and Pakistan have a common border? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2023-02-27 17:30 |
| #3 Thank you for explaining, Skidmark. 8 knew someone would know. :-) From your BBC article: At least 62 migrants are confirmed to have died, with 12 children said to be among the victims, including a baby. The vessel, thought to have carried some 200 people, broke apart while trying to land near Crotone on Sunday. People from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Iran were said to be on board. Bodies were recovered from the beach at a nearby seaside resort in the Calabria region. The coastguard said 80 people had been found alive, "including some who managed to reach the shore after the sinking", meaning many more remain unaccounted for. One survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges, customs police said. Many of those on board were thought to be from Pakistan. Its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said more than two dozen Pakistanis were believed to have been among the dead. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2023-02-27 09:59 |
| #2 Migrant Transport Ship Fined 10k and Held in Port for Violating Border Control Decree |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-02-27 08:54 |
| #1 Italy migrant boat shipwreck: More than 100 people feared dead What is the benefit of such a law? Allows enforcement of the 'one at a time' rescue rule. Panicked paddlers must wait their turn rather than swarming and possibly swamping a rescue vessel. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2023-02-27 07:56 |