26 People Died As A Result Of The Overturned Migrant Ship In Lampedusa Italia

UNSPLASH/Yevhen Buzuk ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - A total of 26 people died in a migrant ship crash off the coast of Lampedusa Island, southern Italy, on Wednesday. It was reported that 60 people were successfully evacuated to land.

This tragedy involved people traveling from Libya, the latest disaster that befell migrants on dangerous voyages in the Middle Sea from Africa to Europe.

As reported by Reuters, Italian law enforcement planes saw the boat capsized with bodies in waters about 14 miles (23 km) from Lampedusa on Wednesday, August 13 morning, which was responded with rescue operations.

Based on initial reports from the rescued migrants, they departed the Tripoli region of Libya in the early hours of the morning by two boats.

One of the boats began to enter the water and they moved to another boat, which then capsized in the overhauled waters.

The coast guard said five ships, two planes, and one helicopter were operating at the rescue site. Preliminary calculations from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, showed the migrant group consisted of about 92 to 97 people.

Since the beginning of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to cross, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesman in Italy.

HANyaku Palma, yang bekerja untuk Palang Merah Italia di Lampedusa, mengatakan para penyantis 56 pria dan empat wanita dalam kondisi kesehatan yang " cukup baik", tetapi empat di antaranya dirawat di rumah sakit untuk pemeriksaan.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right government promised to block immigrant travel by sea from Africa and issue steps against human smugglers, including heavier prison sentences, urging allies to do more in eradicating this phenomenon.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in X, this tragedy underscores the need to prevent illegal departures and continue to fight migrant smugglers.