At least 64 individuals are missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of southern Italy on Monday. Eleven survivors were rescued and transported to a town in Calabria.
Separately, rescue workers discovered 10 bodies of presumed migrants trapped below the deck of a wooden boat near the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to the German aid group Resqship.
The initial shipwreck, which occurred approximately 125 miles off Calabria, involved a boat that had departed eight days prior and caught fire, causing it to overturn, according to survivors cited by UN agencies.
The search and rescue operation commenced after a distress call from a French vessel, the Italian Coast Guard reported. The boat was located in a border zone where Greece and Italy conduct search and rescue operations. Survivors and those still missing are from Iran, Syria, and Iraq, according to UN agencies.
The Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center swiftly diverted two nearby merchant vessels to the scene. Assets from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex also participated in the rescue effort.
The survivors were brought to the port of Roccella Jonica in Calabria, where they received medical attention. One of the migrants passed away shortly after arriving ashore.
In the second incident, the crew of Resqshipâs vessel, the Nadir, encountered a waterlogged wooden boat carrying 61 people.
“Our crew managed to evacuate 51 individuals, two of whom were unconscious,” Resqship reported. “The 10 deceased were found in the flooded lower deck of the boat.”