Another human tragedy unfolded in the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday afternoon around 60 nautical miles off the coast of the island of Lampedusa. Around 20 illegal immigrants are thought to be missing after their boat capsized.
Ten of the illegal immigrants rescued by means of a fishing trawler claimed that there were around 30 persons on board in all. Italian media have reported that already five corpses have been retrieved.
RaiNews24 reported that the persons saved all claimed to be from Eritrea.
This is the second human tragedy in the Mediterranean waters in the past 48 hours. On Saturday’s early hours, at least 10 illegal immigrants have died after a boat thought to be carrying as many as 120 illegal immigrants sank off the coast of the island of Lampedusa. The tragedy occurred at around 0330CEST, 14 kilometers (9 miles) South of Lampedusa. RaiNews24 added on the case that the search is still ongoing for the 40 immigrants dispersed utilising three naval unities of the Italian Coastal Guard and one unity of the Guardia di Finanze.
Meanwhile in Malta, a group of 29 illegal immigrants landed in Mgarr, Gozo on Sunday at about 0300 CET.
Read more about this issue on MaltaMedia's special feature:
Lanċa Ġejja u Oħra Sejra: Malta and its migrations.
See also:
29 illegal immigrants land in Gozo
by MaltaMedia News - Aug 20, 2006
Illegal immigrants drown off Lampedusa coast
by MaltaMedia News - Aug 19, 2006
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