Rescue crews are searching for dozens of people believed to be missing after a boat carrying migrants broke apart off Italy’s southern coast, leaving at least 62 people dead
RESCUE CREWS ARE searching for dozens of people believed to be missing after a boat carrying migrants broke apart off Italy’s southern coast, leaving at least 62 people dead.
The beach at Steccato di Cutro, on Calabria’s Ionian coast, was littered with the splintered remains of the boat that broke up in stormy seas on the reefs offshore, as well as the belongings the migrants had brought with them, including a toddler’s tiny pink trainer and a yellow plastic pencil case decorated with pandas. A few life jackets were also scattered amid the debris.
Two coast guard vessels have searched the seas north to south off Steccato di Cutro today while a helicopter flew overhead and a four-wheel vehicle patrolled the beach. Italy’s Sky TG24 said at least three people had been detained on suspicion they helped organize the trip from Izmir, Turkey.Firefighter Inspector Giuseppe Larosa said what had particularly horrified the first rescue crews who arrived on the scene was how many children had been killed and that the bodies of the dead had scratches all over them, as if they had tried to hang onto the boat to save themselves.
He said: “I ask myself how it’s possible that these crossings are organised, pushing women and children to make the trips that end up tragically dangerous.” Italy has complained bitterly for years that other EU countries have baulked at taking in migrants, many of whom are aiming to find family or work in northern Europe.
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