Seventeen bodies had been recovered and 206 people rescued by patrol boats and merchant ships from a migrant shipwreck in international waters between Libya and Italy, the Italian Navy said yesterday.
“There were 207 survivors rescued yesterday... Seventeen bodies have been recovered so far,” the navy said in a statement, increasing a previous toll of 14 victims following the incident on Monday.
Italian media cited coast guards saying there were about 400 people on board, which would mean dozens are still unaccounted for.
Photo: AFP
The navy said two warships, three coast guard and border patrol boats had taken part in the rescue operation, along with two merchant ships.
“They reached the capsized ship as quickly as possible,” the navy said, adding that two helicopters and two planes had also taken part in the rescue.
The navy said one of its warships, the Grecale frigate, was headed for the port of Catania in Sicily with the survivors and the bodies of the victims on board.
Prosecutors in Catania said they would be opening an investigation into the causes of the shipwreck.
The navy said the other warship, the Sirio, had gone on to rescue 295 migrants from another stricken boat.
Medical personnel from the Order of Malta humanitarian group who assisted the survivors said there were many women and children from sub-Saharan Africa among them.
Libya has long been a springboard for Africans seeking a better life in Europe and the number of illegal departures from its shores is rising due to clement weather conditions and growing lawlessness.
Monday’s shipwreck happened at about 11am about 100 nautical miles (185km) south of Lampedusa Island, Italy’s southernmost point.
“Our ships are there recovering the dead and saving the living. Europe is not helping us,” Italian Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano said, adding: “The Mediterranean is not an Italian border, but a European border.”
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton voiced her regret at the migrants’ deaths and called on the Libyan authorities “to intensify their efforts to prevent more tragedies in the future.”
European leaders expressed outrage and called for action, in a repeat of the response to the drowning of more than 400 migrants off Italy in October last year.
European Parliament president Martin Schulz said in a tweet that he was “shocked” by the tragedy, adding: “EU must take responsibility to protect people and values.”
Libya said it was not involved in the rescue, with Libyan naval spokesman Colonel Ayub Kassem saying the country “does not have the means to help with this shipwreck.”
The Libyan Navy also said it had intercepted and rescued 340 migrants off the western town of Sabratha when their boat began to take on water. And on Sunday, the navy said that 36 migrants had perished, 42 were missing and 52 were rescued following another shipwreck closer to its coast.
Italy said last month that more than 20,000 migrants had arrived on its shores this year.
Libya’s interim interior minister on Saturday warned that Tripoli could “facilitate” the movement of migrants toward Europe unless the bloc helped it combat the problem.
He said Libya was “suffering” because thousands of mainly sub-Saharan Africans were spreading disease, crime and drugs in the North African nation.
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