2023-08-10 02:30:00
ROME, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) — Some 41 migrants are believed to have died after another shipwreck occurred on the perilous Central Mediterranean migration route.
The sinking was reported by four survivors of the tragedy who were brought to the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy on Wednesday.
According to the media, these four survivors were rescued by the Rimona, a Maltese freighter. The victims were taken care of by the Italian Coast Guard, which took them to Lampedusa for treatment.
Survivors said the boat carrying 45 asylum seekers left Tunisia for Lampedusa last Thursday.
It appears that the boat capsized Thursday evening or early Friday, and the four survivors managed to stay afloat by clinging to the wreckage of the boat. They then found an empty boat at sea, before being rescued by the Rimona.
In a joint statement, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed their “deepest condolences for the loss of dozens of human lives” in the sinking.
“Today’s figures add to the growing number of victims of shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean. According to IOM’s ‘Missing Migrants’ project, more than 1,800 people have already been reported as dead or missing along this road this year,” the statement read.
The IOM reports nearly 134,000 migrant arrivals in Europe in 2023. End
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