After the capsizing of two boats off the Italian island of Lampedusa, around 28 migrants – passengers on one of the boats – and three others – on the second – were lost at sea. The boats were small metal boats probably left Thursday from Sfax, Tunisia. After speaking with survivors, officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) believe that “at least 30 people have disappeared”, told Agence France-Presse the press attaché, Flavio Di Giacomo. The IOM specifies that the boats would have overturned due to the bad weather conditions.
“By this sea, it’s sending them to the slaughterhouse”
An investigation into the shipwrecks has been opened in Agrigento, in neighboring Sicily.
Agrigento police chief Emmanuele Ricifari, in charge of the investigation, stressed that the bad weather was announced. “Those who allowed them to leave, or forced them to leave, are unscrupulous criminal lunatics”he told Italian media.
“A very rough sea is forecast for the coming days. Hopefully they will stop” to get people out. “By this sea, it’s sending them to the slaughterhouse”he added.
As the bad weather persisted on Sunday, rescue teams were preparing to bring about twenty migrants to safety, trapped in a rocky area on the coast of Lampedusa. The latter have been there since Friday evening, after high winds drove their boat onto the rocks.
The Red Cross provided them with food, water, clothing and survival blankets, but the Coast Guard was unable to rescue them from the sea due to the height of the waves. If the wind does not drop, rescuers will winch them up the 140-meter cliff, according to press reports.
“There are a lot of shipwrecks that we never hear about”
The Central Mediterranean route from North Africa and towards Europe is the deadliest in the world. More than 1,800 people have died since the beginning of the year trying to borrow it, according to Mr. Di Giacomo. That’s nearly 900 more than last year.
“The truth is that this number is likely higherunderlined the press officer. Many bodies are found at sea, suggesting that there are many shipwrecks that we never hear about. » The number of bodies found at sea has increased, in particular on what is called “the Tunisian road”, which has become increasingly dangerous due to the boats used, added Mr. Di Giacomo.
Smugglers take sub-Saharan migrants to sea “on iron boats which cost less than the usual wooden boats but which are totally unsuitable for navigation at sea, they break easily and sink”, he explained. And often, migrants have to suffer the theft of the engines of their boats at sea so that the smugglers can reuse them.