According to stories provided by survivors who were brought onto the island of Lampedusa, Italian authorities stated on Wednesday that they believe that forty-one migrants perished in a shipwreck that occurred the previous week across the central Mediterranean.
It was confirmed by the local public attorney Salvatore Vella that 4 individuals who survived the catastrophe told rescuers that they are on a boat transporting 45 individuals, including 3 kids. The reports came from the media.
The event has been the subject of an investigation that has been launched by Vella’s office.
The survivors told Italian media outlet Ansa that the boat, which was 7 meters long and set sail on the morning of Thursday from Tunisia’s Sfax, an extremely hot location in the refugee crisis, only to capsize and sink after a few hours after being hit by a large wave. This information was reported by an Italian news organization.
The charity rescue organization known as Sea-Watch reported that one of the organization’s surveillance planes saw the individuals being saved by a cargo ship. They were subsequently moved onto a vessel that belonged to the Italian coast guard, and after arriving in Lampedusa, they related their ordeal to the locals there.
They reported that they had been among the few people on board (the boat that sank) who were wearing a life jacket, and they stayed in the sea after the catastrophe until they located another boat that was empty, according to a statement released by Sea-Watch.
According to the prosecutor Vella, the migrants landed in Lampedusa fatigued as well as in anguish of shock. They are currently scheduled to be interrogated by the police. It is thought that they floated aimlessly in the ocean for a number of days without access to any food or water.
The Italian coastguard failed to offer a response when asked for a comment on the matter.
According to a person who is familiar with the situation and has knowledge of the facts, it is highly unlikely that the survivors were involved in one of the two shipwrecks that the coast guard recorded on Sunday.
In the midst of media allegations that a minimum of one of the wrecked boats was also setting anchor in Sfax on Thursday, the coast guard stated that they saved 57 people and retrieved two remains at the time.
Separately, Tunisian authorities announced on Monday that they had found 11 remains from a shipwreck that occurred near Sfax on Sunday. Despite this recovery, authorities reported that 44 migrants were still missing from the sinking.
According to data provided by the Ministry of the Interior, there have been approximately 93,750 migrants who arrived in Italy by sea so far this year. Italy serves as a primary entry point into Europe for a large number of people who are seeking asylum and other migrants.
This number is in comparison to around 44,950 arrivals over the same time period in 2022.
