Italy’s coast guard saves over 750 migrants, minutes before one of the vessels sank

Rome: The Italian coast guard has rescued more than 750 migrants in two separate search operations off the country’s southern coastline. This comes hours after at least five people died and 33 were missing in an attempted sea crossing. It is believed that the boat laden with migrants were travelling from Tunisia.

Coast guard officials said some 295 people were rescued from a fishing boat that was intercepted 167 km from the eastern coast of the Calabria region, while in the second operation about 450 were rescued from another fishing vessel 185 km east of Syracuse in southern Sicily.

The rescue operations come barely a month after 88 people died in a shipwreck just off Calabria’s coastline. Ten people are still reported to be missing from the shipwreck that occurred on February 26.

After the incident, Italy’s migrant sea rescue operations have come under intense scrutiny. The boat carrying the migrants was believed to be bringing refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan to Italy. The wooden vessel struck rocks off the coast of Calabria and splintered into several pieces. Many of the bodies were reported to have washed up on a tourist beach near Steccato di Cutro, while others were found at sea. Survivors narrated that the rickety boat was carrying at least 140 to 150 people on-board before it crashed into the rocks.

In the latest incident, the second vessel was believed to be in a precarious state of seaworthiness, and three cargo ships and a patrol boat from the European Union border agency Frontex helped with the rescue, the coast guard said in a statement.

The boat was spotted before it sank, but police vessels failed to reach it due to rough weather.

Italian charities and opposition politicians have asked why coast guard vessels, better equipped to face high seas, were not deployed instead.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.