The Italian Navy has recovered another 14 bodies in the Ionian Sea after last Monday’s shipwreck: the death toll has risen to 34. The luxury cruise ship Insignia has saved 68 migrants adrift off the coast of the Canary Islands
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On Saturday, the Dattilo and Corsi ships of the Italian Coast Guard recovered 14 bodies after the shipwreck which occurred on Monday 17 June in the Ionian Sea, approximately 120 miles from the coast of Calabria. A total of 34 bodies were recovered, many of them children. The migrants on the boat, which reportedly departed from Libya and capsized after an engine fire, were reportedly from Iran, Syria and Iraq.
Under the coordination of the Coast Guard, the Nave Corsi, the Nave Dattilo and the Nave Diciotti and a Coast Guard p42 “Manta” aircraft operated, as well as a Navy p72 aircraft and Frontex air assets. According to survivors, there are still another thirty missing.
Migrants adrift for three weeks in the Atlantic
The luxury cruise ship Insignia, of Oceania Cruises, has rescued 68 migrants adrift off the coast of the Canary Islands. Three bodies were recovered on Friday, but two others could not be reached due to bad weather. A seriously ill migrant died before evacuation.
It was the bulk carrier Philipp Oldendorff that spotted a canoe-shaped vessel with people on board it was drifting approximately 440 nautical miles south of Tenerife. The vessel provided first aid to those affected, while the passenger ship Insignia was awaited for additional support.
The Insignia, traveling from Cape Verde to Tenerife, was diverted to the area and its crew used ropes to rescue the adrift migrants. The people rescued are of sub-Saharan origin, including three children aged between seven and nine.
Five of those rescued were taken to various hospitals. One was severely dehydrated, while a pregnant woman was taken to hospital to have her condition assessed. Also the others showed symptoms of dehydrationbut of a moderate and mild nature.
Insignia said one of those rescued was in critical condition and had to be evacuated. The Helimer 201 helicopter was mobilised, but shortly afterwards the doctor on board confirmed that he was dead and the helicopter returned to Tenerife South airport from where it had taken off.
The rescued people themselves said they had been at sea for almost three weeks when they were found. They come from Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mali, Gambia and Senegal. According to the authorities, there were more than one hundred people on the drifting boat, the rest died in the boat due to hunger and thirst.
NGOs denounce the Libyan coast guard for mistreatment
A video by the NGO Sea Watch filmed last June 18 from the Seabird helicopter shows Libyan coast guards targeting migrants rescued from a merchant ship. The video raised concerns about the treatment of migrants and the EU’s role in funding the Libyan coast guard. Despite the rescue operations of the authorities of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, over five thousand migrants died from January to May.
