Another terrible shipwreck of a ship carrying illegal immigrants occurred off the coast of Italy in the early hours of Sunday, February 26.
Photo: REUTERS
Another terrible shipwreck of a ship carrying illegal immigrants occurred off the coast of Italy in the early hours of Sunday, February 26. In all, some 250 people from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Syria were on board the ship, en route from Turkey. The refugees had to swim less than a kilometer to the beach of Steccato di Cutro (Calabria region), where they were scheduled to land, when the boat could not withstand the pressure of the elements and broke in half near the city of Crotone.
Now the forces of the coast guard, the financial guard and the fire brigade continue to carry out a rescue operation. Local volunteers were involved in sheltering the victims.
The sad result of the tragedy, already confirmed at this point, is 62 deaths, of which 20 are children. 80 people were rescued, but there could be much more survivors, some of them reached the shore on their own and are in no hurry to contact the local authorities. Despite this, the number of victims of the incident could reach a hundred, since it is not known with certainty how many migrants were on board.
According to some reports, the police have already arrested two people from the crew of the illegal flight, as well as a Turkish national who was allegedly coordinating its activities.
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, when expressing his sorrow for the shipwreck off the coast of Crotone, called on “the international community to make a firm commitment to address the main causes of the flow of internally displaced persons: wars, persecution, terrorism , poverty, inhospitable territories due to climate change.” At the same time, he separately emphasized that the European Union after the tragedy should finally begin to assume “specific responsibility for regulating migration.”
