26 killed as 2 migrant boats sink off Italy coast

KABUL (Pajhwok): At least 26 people have died and 60 others rescued after two migrant boats sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, a media report said on Thursday.

Rescue services on Wednesday brought 60 survivors ashore to Lampedusa — 56 men and four women — Al Jazeera reported.

Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesperson for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), said around 95 people had been travelling on the two vessels. Given that 60 people were rescued, “approximately 35 victims are feared dead or missing,” he wrote on social media.

The disaster, involving people travelling from Libya, is the latest tragedy to befall refugees and migrants attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.

Rights groups and UN agencies have documented systematic abuse against refugees and migrants in Libya, including torture, rape, and extortion.

In February, Libyan authorities discovered nearly 50 bodies in two mass graves in the country’s south-eastern desert — the latest horror involving people attempting to reach Europe via the North African nation.

Since the beginning of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to make the crossing, said Filippo Ungaro, a UNHCR spokesperson in Italy.

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