Pakistanis and Afghans among many missing in two migrant shipwrecks off Italy’s coast

Pakistanis and Afghans are among twelve people who died, and over 60 individuals, including 26 children, went missing following two migrant shipwrecks off Italy’s southern coast, aid groups, coastguard officials, and U.N. agencies reported on Monday.

The German aid group RESQSHIP, which operates the Nadir rescue boat, reported rescuing 51 people from a sinking wooden boat, including two who were unconscious. They also found 10 bodies trapped in the lower deck of the vessel. Survivors were handed over to the Italian coastguard and brought ashore on Monday morning. The Nadir then headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa, towing the wooden boat with the deceased on board, according to the charity.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration, and U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said in a joint statement that the boat had departed from Libya, carrying migrants from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The second shipwreck occurred about 200 km (125 miles) east of the Italian region of Calabria, when a boat that had left Turkey caught fire and overturned, the agencies reported. Sixty-four people were missing at sea, while 11 were rescued and taken ashore by the Italian coastguard, along with the body of a woman.

Shakilla Mohammadi, a staffer with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), reported hearing from survivors that 66 people were unaccounted for, including at least 26 children, some just a few months old.

“Entire families from Afghanistan are presumed dead. They left from Turkey eight days ago and had been taking on water for three or four days. They told us they had no life vests and some vessels did not stop to help them,” she said in a statement.

The U.N. agencies stated that migrants from the second shipwreck included individuals from Iran, Syria, and Iraq.

These incidents reaffirm the central Mediterranean’s reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes. According to U.N. data, over 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in its waters since 2014.

U.N. agencies called on EU governments to enhance Mediterranean search and rescue operations and to expand legal and safe migration channels to prevent migrants from risking their lives at sea.

Earlier this month, 11 bodies were recovered from the sea off the coast of Libya. Last year, another migrant boat that had set off from Turkey crashed into rocks just off the town of Cutro in Calabria, resulting in at least 94 deaths.