Rescuers are searching for at least 50 missing people after two separate shipwrecks occurred near the Italian coast of Calabria. Ten bodies have already been recovered on Monday in the lower deck of a wooden boat by rescuers from Nadir, a ship operated by German charity ResQship. The charity had already saved 51 people who had been on the boat that originated in Tunisia. The vessel began to sink about 40 miles south of the Italian Island of Lampedusa.
Alarm Phone, a hotline service set up specifically for ships in distress while cruising the Mediterranean, was alerted to the ship’s issues and that they were carrying 60 people. European Union authorities did not assist but Nadir did, unfortunately, not in time to save everyone.
In an unrelated incident, 50 people were reported missing on Monday in another shipwreck on the Ionian Sea also off the coast of Calabria. The ship had left Turkey and the passengers were of Iranian, Syrian and Iraqi descent. In all, 12 passengers were rescued.
Italy has become one of the primary destinations for migrants trying to reach Europe by the Mediterranean. The United Nations estimates about 20,000 death and disappearances along the dangerous Mediterranean route since 2014.
