At least 43 dead in Southern Italy migrant shipwreck, including Pakistanis

At least forty-three people died while 80 people survived in a Southern Italy migrant shipwreck, including Pakistanis on Sunday.

The shipwreck happened near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, the region that forms the tip of Italy’s boot.

As reported, a vessel, carrying migrants from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, crashed against rocks during rough sea weather on early Sunday morning.

“At present, a total of 80 people have been found alive – some of whom have managed to reach the shore after the shipwreck – and 43 bodies have been found along the coast,” the coast guard said in a statement.

The boat was carrying about 120 people and hit rocks “a few meters from the shore,” the coast guard said, adding that the search for other possible survivors was still on.

The death toll “has surpassed 30,” Danilo Maida, spokesman for the firefighters’ service in Calabria told Reuters earlier, adding that the count was provisional.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported earlier in the day that 27 bodies were found on the beach, and that more bodies were spotted at sea.

According to the Adnkronos news agency, more than 100 people were aboard the ship

While AGI, another Italian news agency, said a baby and several children were among the dead.

“It is a huge tragedy which shows the absolute need to act firmly against irregular migration channels,” Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in a statement.

“It is essential to stop sea crossings which, offering migrants the illusory mirage of a better life in Europe, enrich traffickers and cause tragedies like today’s”, the Italian minister stressed.

As per the International Organisation for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project report, 20,333 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014.