More than 30 people have died and more than 40 have survived a migrant boat shipwreck in southern Italy, a spokesman for the Italian firefighters’ service said on Sunday.
According to international media reports, the shipwreck took place near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, the region that forms the tip of Italy’s boot.
The death toll “has surpassed 30,” Danilo Maida, spokesman for the firefighters’ service in Calabria told reportrs, adding that the count was provisional.
Firefighters and other emergency services were looking for more survivors at sea using jet skis, but conditions were harsh, making the search difficult, he added.
Earlier, Italian media reported that 27 bodies were found on the beach, and that more bodies were spotted at sea.
“It is a huge tragedy which shows the absolute need to act firmly against irregular migration channels,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a statement.
It is “essential” to stop sea crossings which, offering migrants the ‘illusory mirage of a better life’ in Europe, enrich traffickers and “cause tragedies like today’s”, he added.
Italy is one of the main landing points for migrants trying to enter Europe by sea. The so-called central Mediterranean route is known as one of the world’s most dangerous.
According to the International Organisation for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, 20,333 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014.
