The Italian Coast Guard on Wednesday rescued 38 migrants after their boat capsized on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the central Mediterranean.
The unreliable vessel was first spotted by the air patrol of the European agency Frontex, which alerted the Maltese authorities, who in turn requested cooperation from the Italian Coast Guard, as there were several ships in the area, overloaded with people and having problems.
According to the Italian coast guard, a patrol of the Financial Guard, which also has maritime powers, went to the scene to rescue the passengers of various ships.
One of the ships sank about 10 miles from Italian territorial waters, 38 people fell overboard, including a minor, but everyone was rescued.
The rescue operation took place shortly after another incident in Italy on February 26, when the ship sank 150 meters off the coast of Calabria (south), killing at least 72 people.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Tuesday called accusations by opposition parties and various rescue organizations that no action had been taken to prevent the flooding a “serious lie” on Tuesday.
“The allegation that relief operations could have been conditioned or even prevented by the government is a serious lie, insulting, first of all, the honor and professionalism of our agents, who work every day at sea and in especially difficult conditions,” he said.
The ship was spotted off the coast of Italy by a plane from the European border surveillance agency Frontex, which sent a notification to the Italian authorities without warning of the danger.
At midnight on 26 February, Italian maritime authorities attempted to intercept the ship, but were unsuccessful due to maritime conditions, until at 0400 local time (0300 GMT) Italy received the first distress call from the international telephone used by the smugglers aboard the ship.
Shortly thereafter, the ship, according to survivors, about 150 meters from the coast of Calabria hit the bottom of the sea and began to sink.
Four smugglers jumped into the water, and many migrants began to come out onto the deck until a huge wave capsized the ship and threw them into the raging sea.
The preliminary tally of the tragedy, more than a week later, with people still searching for the missing at sea, points to 72 dead and 80 survivors, of which eight remain in hospitals and 54 are hospitalized.
VP // RBF
Portuguese/Late
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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