PALERMO, Sicily (CN) — Italy's coast guard said on Tuesday it had retrieved the first bodies from an overcrowded sailboat that capsized in the Ionian Sea with dozens of migrants aboard.
The sailboat ran into trouble about 120 miles off the coast of the southern Italian region of Calabria on Monday, the coast guard said. Survivors said 66 people, including 26 children, were missing. Search and rescue operations continued into Tuesday night.
This week has been particularly lethal in the Mediterranean — another overcrowded migrant vessel sank off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Monday. A German humanitarian rescue boat, the Nadir, found 10 people dead in that boat's lower deck. It saved 51 people from the sinking wooden boat, which had departed from Libya.
On Tuesday, the Italian coast guard said it had recovered three bodies from the sunken sailboat, as reported by RAI, an Italian state news agency. The coast guard did not immediately respond to queries from Courthouse News Tuesday.
A French ship discovered the distressed semi-submerged sailboat and took on board 12 people, according to ANSA, an Italian state news agency. One of those 12 was pronounced dead upon arrival in Italy, the coast guard said.
Survivors said the sailboat's engine caught on fire and caused the vessel to capsize, ANSA reported. Those aboard the boat were believed to be from Iran, Syria and Iraq.
More than 800 people have drowned this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the United Nations. Since 2014, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean.
With calmer summer conditions in the Mediterranean, the number of boats likely to try to make the perilous crossing may grow.
Compared to last year, the flow of asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy has slowed by about half following controversial deals between the European Union and North African nations to restrict the departure of migrant boats. The deals are controversial because many migrants may be forced into even more perilous conditions and journeys.
Frontex, the EU's border agency, said 21,330 irregular border crossings in the central Mediterranean region were recorded between January and May this year, a 58% decline from last year.
Across the Mediterranean, Frontex counted more than 47,000 irregular border crossings since January with Greece seeing a big spike of arrivals from Turkey, possibly because migrants are choosing that route following the clampdown by North African nations.
Authorities in Europe are seeking to combat smugglers who organize the majority of crossings and extract hefty prices from migrants seeking a better life in the EU.
Last year, the EU passed a major migration deal to strengthen border controls, make it easier to deport people deemed ineligible for asylum and distribute the load of asylum seekers across the bloc.
Cracking down on border control has become a chief concern for many European governments as anger against the influx of migrants has fueled the rise of xenophobic far-right political parties.
But humanitarian groups accuse the EU of turning its back on migrants as it cuts back on rescue operations, curtails the work of non-government groups seeking to rescue migrants and relies on North African officials to patrol the Mediterranean for migrant vessels.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
