At least 20 migrants have died and many more are still missing after their boat overturned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, according to the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR). “Deep anguish for the umpteenth shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa, where UNHCR is now assisting the survivors. It looks to be 20 bodies found and as many missing,” wrote the agency’s spokesman, Filippo Ungaro, on social media.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi confirmed the disaster, stating the shipwreck occurred 14 nautical miles from Lampedusa. Radio Radicale reported the boat was carrying 97 people when it capsized. Details remain scarce, but Save the Children Italy said a baby girl, aged one-and-a-half, appears to be among the missing. RaiRadio1 reported between 12 and 17 migrants missing, adding that 60 survivors were transported to safety on the island. The overturned boat was spotted from the air by a plane from Italy’s financial police.
Migrants traveling to Italy from North Africa often take the central Mediterranean route—one of the world’s deadliest—in leaky or overcrowded boats, with many arriving in Lampedusa. The UNHCR reported that there have been 675 migrant deaths on this route so far this year. According to the interior ministry, 38,263 migrants have arrived on Italian shores this year as of Wednesday.
Piantedosi stated on social media that the incident “underscores the urgency of preventing, from the countries of departure, the dangerous sea journeys and of relentlessly combating the ruthless trafficking business that fuels this phenomenon.” The hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made deals with North African countries, providing funding and training in exchange for their help in stemming the flow of migrant departures.
