A wooden boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Lampedusa, Mediterranean Sea resulting in at least 11 deaths. A second vessel, a sailing boat originating from Turkey caught fire and capsized near Calabria, leaving 64 people missing.
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The German rescue ship Nadir operated by RESQSHIP rescued 51 survivors from the sinking wooden boat.
Rescuers found 10 bodies trapped in the lower deck of the vessel. The rescued individuals were handed over to the Italian coast guard and taken to safety in Lampedusa.
The boat, which had set sail from Turkey eight days prior, capsized after catching fire. The Italian coast guard with assistance from a French pleasure boat managed to save 11 people and recover one deceased body. A massive search operation is ongoing to locate the missing migrants.
The migrants on the wooden boat near Lampedusa came from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The victims of the Calabrian shipwreck included individuals from Iran, Syria and Iraq.
RESQSHIP expressed deep sorrow and frustration over the loss of lives. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNICEF have all called for enhanced safety measures.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the deadliest migration routes in the world, with over 27,000 recorded deaths in the past decade.
On the morning of June 17, 2024, the German rescue ship Nadir, operated by RESQSHIP encountered a dire situation off the coast of Lampedusa.
A wooden boat carrying 61 migrants was found sinking with 51 individuals rescued by the crew. 10 bodies were discovered trapped in the lower deck and two of the rescued were in critical condition.
The survivors, hailing from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh were handed over to the Italian coast guard and brought to safety on Lampedusa.
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Another disaster unfolded 200 kilometers east of Calabria. A sailing boat that had left from Turkey eight days earlier caught fire and capsized, leading to the loss of 64 lives.
The Italian coast guard alerted by a French pleasure boat, managed to save 11 people and recover the body of a woman. The search for the remaining missing individuals continues with the assistance of the EU border agency Frontex.
The second shipwreck occurred approximately 125 miles off the coast of Calabria, Mediterranean sea in southern Italy. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that a sailing boat, which had left Turkey eight days earlier, was in distress.
Among the missing are 66 individuals including 26 children. Survivors recounted that they had no life vests and some vessels did not stop to provide assistance despite their obvious distress.
Twelve individuals were rescued by a merchant ship and taken to Roccella Ionica port, where one woman unfortunately passed away after disembarking. The survivors included individuals from Iran, Iraq and Syria, many of whom were traumatized by the loss of loved ones.
The charity’s vessel, Nadir, was instrumental in the rescue mission near Lampedusa. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to save the ten individuals found deceased in the lower deck.
Alarm Phone, a service that assists migrants in distress criticized European Union authorities for their delayed response,.
The Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) coordinated the response to both incidents. Their timely action facilitated the rescue of several individuals and the recovery of bodies, providing a measure of closure for the victims’ families.
In a week-long operation, EMERGENCY, another humanitarian organization rescued 21 people from a separate incident.
The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project reports that over 27,000 people have died in the Mediterranean since 2014.
This statistic illustrates the scale of the humanitarian disaster unfolding on Europe’s doorstep. The central Mediterranean route particularly between Libya and Italy, remains the most dangerous with countless lives lost each year.
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