Eleven people dead and dozens missing after shipwrecks off Italy's south coast

UN agencies said the vessels had set off from Libya and Türkiye carrying migrants.

Fifty-one people were recovered from a sinking wooden boat. Source: AP / Valeria Ferraro

Key Points

• The shipwrecks were found by German aid group RESQSHIP.
• Survivors were taken to hospital where they were given first aid for their injuries.
• The United Nations says over 23,500 migrants have either died or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014.

Eleven people have died and over 60, including 25 children, remain missing, after two shipwrecks off the southern coast of Italy.

The news has been confirmed by human aid groups, coastguard officials and United Nations agencies, who said on Monday that 51 people were recovered by the Nadir rescue boat from a sinking wooden boat.

Two of them were found unconscious while another 10 were found in the lower back of the vessel.

The Nadir rescue ship, which is operated by German aid group RESQSHIP, made its way to the Italian port of Lampedusa, towing the wooden vessel with the deceased on board and handed over all the injured people to the Italian coastguard.

A joint statement by the the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and UN children's agency UNICEF said that the vessel was carrying migrants from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh and had set off from Libya.

Over 60 people missing from second shipwreck that set sail from Türkiye

A second shipwreck was found a few hours later, 200km off the Calabria region, after a boat that had set off from Türkiye was overturned due to a fire.

Agencies have said they had managed to rescue 11 people from the shipwreck, with more than 60 remaining missing in the waters.

They said the second shipwreck was carrying migrants from Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Shakilla Mohammadi, a worker for the charity organisation Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), said there were many children involved in the incident who remain missing.

This picture taken by the Italian Coast Guard shows a sailboat used by migrants half sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and Greece. Source: AP / Italian Coast Guard

"Entire families from Afghanistan are presumed dead. They left from Türkiye eight days ago and had taken in water for three or four days. They told us they had no life vests and some vessels did not stop to help them," she said in a statement.

Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean on the rise

Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea have become more common in recent years, with data from the UN showing that over 23,500 people have either lost their lives or gone missing in their attempts to cross the dangerous waters and make their way into Europe.

Recent reports have shown the Greek coastguard could be responsible for causing the deaths of over 40 migrants within the period between 2020-2023, attempting to push people back into Türkiye, from where they cross, an action which is considered illegal by international law.

UN agencies say European governments need to do more to ensure the lives of migrants are not put at risk in their attempts to cross the Mediterranean.

It comes after 11 people were found dead off the coast of Libya earlier in June, following another deadly incident that caused the lives of 94 people when a migrant vessel that had set off from Türkiye was destroyed by rocks near the town of Cutro in Calabria.