Italy recovers 14 more bodies after migrant shipwreck

22/6/2024 11:46

        Italy's coast guard recovered 14 more bodies on Friday from a migrant shipwreck off the southern Calabria region which caused at least 34 casualties, a statement said.
        
        The shipwreck took place about 200 km (125 miles) east of Calabria, at the tip of Italy's boot, as a boat that had presumably set off from Turkey caught fire and overturned, charity agencies said on Monday.
        
        The coastguard statement said, "Today, 14 bodies were recovered from the coast guard vessels Dattilo and Corsi. A total of 34 bodies were retrieved" since search operations began.
        
        After the shipwreck, the agencies said the coast guard had rescued 11 people from the site and brought ashore the body of a woman, but warned over 60 were still missing, meaning more might still be at sea.
        
        According to U.N. data, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean waters since 2014.
        
        The coast guard said aircraft provided by Italy and the European Union's border agency Frontex were contributing to the search operations.