More than
40 migrants died
this Sunday as a result of the capsizing of their boat off the Italian coast, not far from the city of Crotone, in Calabria, according to the first reports.
"So far, 80 people have been recovered alive, some of them managed to reach the shore after the shipwreck, and 43 bodies have been found," a statement from the coast guard reported.
For his part, Roberto Occhiuto, president of the Calabrian region, issued a statement in which he spoke of
"dozens and dozens of drowned, including children, many missing."
And he says that "Calabria is in mourning for this terrible tragedy."
According to rescuers, the boat was carrying about 120 people and collided with some rocks a few meters from the shore.
The firefighters, meanwhile, point out that there were "more than 200 people" on board.
Survivors of the tragedy off the Italian coast.
AFP photo
In the images released by the Italian police, pieces of wood can be seen scattered on the beach, where lifeguards went while the rescued awaited their transfer to a reception center.
The head of government, Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party (FDI, far right), expressed her "deep pain" in a statement and said that it was "criminal to send a boat of barely 20 meters to sea with 200 people on board and with a bad weather forecast".
"The government is committed to preventing departures and this type of tragedies and will continue to do so by demanding, first of all, the greatest collaboration of the States of departure and origin," he assured.
This new shipwreck takes place just a few days after the adoption in the Italian Parliament of controversial new rules on the rescue of migrants promoted by the government dominated by the extreme right.
Bodies recovered off the Italian coast after a ship broke in two with nearly 200 migrants on board.
AFP photo
Meloni came to power in October with a coalition after promising to reduce immigration into Italy.
The new law requires humanitarian ships to carry out only one rescue per trip out to sea, which critics say increases the risk of deaths in the central Mediterranean, considered the world's most dangerous journey for migrants.
News in development.
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