Since a refugee boat sank a few days ago, numerous people have been missing in the Mediterranean. The Italian coast guard has now recovered at least 34 bodies.
Following a boat accident in the Mediterranean earlier this week, the Italian coast guard has so far recovered 34 dead refugees. 14 more bodies were discovered on Friday, the coast guard said.
The search for other missing people continued. Women and children were among the dead. More than 60 people were missing after a sailing boat sank off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy on Monday night; eleven people were rescued.
Numerous children missing
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders reported, citing survivors, that 66 people were missing, including at least 26 children. The boat had set off from Turkey and sank off the Calabrian coast. According to the aid organization, Afghan families are among the missing.
More deaths in second accident
According to the German refugee rescue organization ResQship, ten more bodies were found in another capsized boat off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
According to the UN refugee organization, 3,155 refugees drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean last year. More than 1,000 refugees have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. This year, however, the number of refugees arriving in Italy has fallen significantly.