The Italian Navy has recovered another 14 bodies in the Ionian Sea after last Monday’s shipwreck: the death toll rises to 34. The luxury cruise ship Insignia rescued 68 migrants adrift off the Canary Islands.
On Saturday, the Italian Coast Guard vessels Dattilo and Corsi recovered 14 bodies after the shipwreck that took place on Monday, June 17 in the Ionian Seaabout 120 miles off the coast of Calabria.
They have recovered a total of 34 bodies, many of them children. The migrants of the boat, which apparently left Libya and capsized after an engine fire, came from Iran, Syria and Iraq.
Under the coordination of the Coast Guard, the Corsi, the Dattilo and the Diciotti and a Coast Guard p42 “Manta” aircraft operated, as well as a Navy p72 aircraft and Frontex aerial assets. According to survivors, thirty others are still missing.
Migrants adrift for three weeks in the Atlantic
The luxury cruise ship Insignia, from Oceania Cruises, rescued 68 migrants adrift off the Canary Islands. Three bodies were recovered on Friday, but two more could not be located due to bad weather. One seriously ill migrant died before evacuation.
It was the bulk carrier Philipp Oldendorff who sighted a canoe-shaped vessel with people on board that It was drifting about 440 nautical miles south of Tenerife. The ship provided first aid to those affected, while the passenger ship Insignia was awaiting further support.
The Insignia, which was traveling from Cape Verde to Tenerife, was diverted to the area and its crew used ropes to rescue the drifting migrants. The rescued people are of sub-Saharan origin, including three children between seven and nine years old.
Five of those rescued were taken to various hospitals. One of them was severely dehydrated, while a pregnant woman was taken to hospital to evaluate her condition. The others also had symptoms of dehydration.but of a moderate and mild nature.
Insignia reported that one of the rescuers was in critical condition and had to be evacuated. The Helimer 201 helicopter was mobilized, but shortly afterwards the doctor on board confirmed that he had died and the helicopter returned to the Tenerife South airport from where it had taken off.
The rescued people themselves said that 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 authorities, there were more than a hundred people on the drifting boat, the rest died on the boat due to hunger and thirst.
NGOs denounce mistreatment of the Libyan coast guard
A video from the NGO Sea Watch filmed on June 18 by the Seabird helicopter shows to the Libyan coast guard beating migrants rescued by 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 carried out by the authorities of the countries bordering the Mediterranean, more than five thousand migrants died from January to May.
